Tuesday 4 ~ January 2023

Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to Toni Taddeo's first Tuesday 4 in the new year.   

January is named for  Janus the two faced god who looked into the past and future. Some believe he

was Noah who may have been worshipped by his progeny. He certainly looked into the pre flood world and the new world.  The Anglo Saxons called this month Wulfsmoanth.   Let's talk about January.

1.  January 1, 1892 Ellis Island opened it's doors.  Did any of your relations enter the United States through Ellis Island?  If not, do you know your family's history?  My family isn't American so no relations entered through Ellis Island or any part of the USA. Fortunately I do know my family history but many of my extended family members do not.

2. January's birthstone is garnet and the flower is the carnation.  Do you have favorite gem stones or flowers? The garnet is a very pretty gem but I've never been a big fan of carnations. My favourite gem stones are sapphire and turquoise. I'm not sure I have a favourite flower but if I have to pick one it would probably be the rose in any colour because they smell wonderful and there are so many varieties and colours for any taste. I do like many kind of flowers though so if we met up in person I'd probably ooh and aah over any beautiful, colourful flower in the garden.

3. January 6 is Epiphany. Many take that day as the final day of the Christmas celebration and take down their decor.   What about you?   I take down my decorations before the Epiphany otherwise they might stay up for several more weeks and that wouldn't do. I like to keep them up until New Year's Day then they come down the next day. This year I almost took them down on December 27th. I think it's because for the very first time in a long while I put the tree and decorations up at the end of November and so a few weeks is more than enough.

4. There is some evidence that January can set the tone for your entire year. What do you think of this? Do you make resolutions, etc?  I'd be interested in what you mean by 'evidence'. Have there been some scientific studies on the subject?  It does make sense to me that January can set the tone for the year. My maternal grandfather always used to teach us, and mom carried on the teaching, that we must set our home and our family matters in a good and positive way before the New Year comes and on the eve of the New Year and on the first day, we should be doing positive things and activities that will 'follow' us throughout the year. In other words, no fighting and division amongst family and friends and no negative activities. I adopted this as the way I live my life in general but also at the close and beginning of each New Year. My family also liked to gather together at home safe and sound rather than be out and about and we stayed up visiting and watching television festivities waiting for the New Year to be rung in at midnight. Then we would hug and kiss and wish one another a happy New Year. Following that the phone would start to ring and/or we would make phone calls to wish loved ones far away a very Happy New Year. Sadly, no one really does this anymore but I loved it. Today I do still stay up until midnight to wish my immediate family a Happy New Year and have a small toast. I hope to continue this tradition even if it is only with one person. 

Update: After reading what others have posted in answer to this question I came back to expand on my answer in case there was any confusion by what I meant.  I want to clarify that my maternal grandfather was not a superstitious person and nor was my mother. We were/are all Christians and the idea about the positivity was to set the tone of what would follow in the new year. It was not magic, nor a ritual but an intentional decision as to how we would live out the day, the transition to the New Year and the New Year itself. We were in gratitude, if you will for each day and moment that the good Lord has gifted us and were deliberately choosing our attitudes about the gift of more time.

Last but not least, I don't make resolutions but I do adopt a theme word for the year. A few years ago I did more detailed goal setting but this takes more thought and work to be ready to post it at the end or beginning of each year. The goal setting works well for me when I'm able to do it. The theme word also works well and gives me more flexibility in the activities I'm carrying out throughout the year.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be paying your blog a visit soon!

Happy New Year & Word of the Year 2023

The year 2022 is closing out and the new year is being ushered in. 

I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year!

I've been thinking about a new theme word for 2023.  My thoughts have been mulling around new beginnings. Fancy words like commencement  and recrudescence were considered but didn't quite do it for me. 

(Commencement means both “the ceremony of conferring degrees or granting diplomas at the end of the academic year” and also “an act or instance of commencing; beginning,” reflecting an earlier use of the word. It comes from the Latin cominitiāre (“to begin”).

Recrudescence means “breaking out afresh or into renewed activity.” As the Latin root suggests, this word was first used in medical contexts to describe a recurrence of symptoms after a period of remission, but it later took on a more rosy sense referring to the revival of something good.)

I'm still dealing with activities from years past including 2022.  So new beginnings doesn't quite capture the activities that will carry over in 2023. New beginnings is also 2 words not one, lol.

So I've decided on the word 'Start'.  I think it will capture both activities that are on-going from prior years and any new activities related to house, home and family. To start or begin, tells me it is good to just begin. By beginning something, anything large or small, things get done. Start also gives grace not to have to complete something in a given time frame. Start also gives flexibility to deal with new things that arise. I'm excited to see the year unfold and to 'start'. Have you set your goals or selected your word for 2023? I'd love to hear it.