Why Spring Feels Like the Real New Year
January asks you to become someone new in the dead of winter.
Push harder. Set goals. Begin again.
But your body has a different read on the situation.
January is dark. Cold. The earth is in a resting state. And yet the calendar tells you to accelerate. If you have ever felt behind before the year even started, that is not a personal failure. That is a rhythm mismatch.
Many Indigenous traditions mark spring — not January — as the beginning of the year. Not for symbolic reasons. Because ecologically, it makes sense. Day and night equalize. The ground softens. Seeds go into soil. Renewal becomes visible. The body registers the shift before the mind names it.
The calendar most of us follow came from imperial and colonial systems that organized time around governance, taxation, and control. Those systems spread across the globe. They were not designed around land. They were not designed around the body.
So, we learned to track time by quarters and output. We learned to push through fatigue. We learned to expect growth in seasons designed for conservation.
When time is disconnected from land, we lose our cues for rest. When productivity becomes the measure of worth, stillness starts to read as failure.
A lot of you are already carrying more than enough. You are the capable one. The one who figures it out. The one who shows up. So when January arrives and you cannot locate extra energy, the assumption is that something is wrong with you.
It is not.
There is nothing defective about conserving energy in dark months. Dormancy is not stagnation. Slowing down is not falling behind.
Spring offers a different entry point. Light increases. Circadian rhythms shift in response to longer days. For those who experience seasonal depression, the nervous system often registers the change before anything else does. Energy begins to return. Not all at once. But it returns.
What if you let that be your beginning?
Not an overhaul. A recalibration.
What are you ready to plant this season? What were you carrying that does not belong in the next cycle? What expectations were handed to you — and never actually yours?
Growth is not linear. Healing is seasonal. The goal is not to be in bloom year-round.
If this feels like a more honest starting point, bring it into session. My schedule has been updated with several upcoming days off, so I encourage you to plan ahead as we move into spring.
You are allowed to begin again — without urgency, without shame, without having to earn it first.
Kristin Davis, LMFT, is the founder of Niche Counseling & Consulting, PLLC, specializing in healing intergenerational patterns and ancestral trauma. With a background in diversity, equity, and wellness, Kristin offers virtual counseling, intensives, and speaking engagements. Trained as an Ancestral Healing Practitioner, she empowers clients to forge new pathways for healing, promoting wellness and empowerment through psychoeducation. Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn or visit her website at www.nichecounseling.com.