I loved back-to-school season as a kid. The promise a simple black-and-white marble composition notebook held as its taped spine crackled for the first time felt boundless. I went to a Catholic school, so this lasted until Sister Mary reminded me there were definitely limits in life and they started with my skirt and its hemline, which needed to cover my knees.
As adults, the to-dos of back-to-school season—the astonishing number of forms that need to be filled out, the Hunger Games effort it takes to get a child into aftercare clubs, and the James Joyce-ian length email that accompanies all of it—is limiting, the metaphorical Sister Mary checking our hemline.
The good news? We can reclaim the promise and possibility of that back-to-school mindset whether or not we go to school. This feeling of a clean slate or new beginning actually has a name researchers call the fresh start effect.1 It’s the boost in motivation that comes with a temporal landmark—a shift from one time in our life to another, like a birthday or new year. Temporal landmarks are an opportunity to let go of habits, mistakes, or, as we say in yoga, anything that no longer serves us, and to open our minds to new possibilities.2 They act as a mental reset. Here are some ways to make the most of them:
When you notice a temporal landmark coming up, pause and reflect. I like to consider how balanced my life feels across love, work, play, and health, an idea I adapted from the book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. It helps me to visualize that balance, so I use a worksheet to color in how full my cup is in each area so I can consider what I might need or want to shift—a tool I developed for a yoga workshop and it’s below if you’d like to give it a try.3
Rituals help give temporal landmarks power. They are actions imbued with meaning and intention. If your temporal landmark doesn’t come with a ritual—or you don’t like the one that it comes with—create a new one.
Our motivation starts to fade the further we get from our landmark date. No need to beat ourselves up about it; it’s a totally natural phenomenon that I suspect simply needs a reframe as a season of preparation. It is that necessary period of rest and recovery which allows us to clear space for the growth of something new.
As a kid, back-to-school season felt momentous. Now, I recognize that our lives are filled with landmarks of all sizes—Mondays are a tiny one—to help orient ourselves to the ebbs and flow of life. And I’m grateful I don’t have to wait for summer to rest or September to feel the promise and possibility of something new.
Sharpening my pencils,
Kelly
Often we frame these as goals or resolutions, but we don't need to. It can just be a new way of seeing things.
Love this!!! And this time of year is the Jewish New Year too! It’s a beautiful time to begin again