This month's theme for The Cauldron’s Blog Project is Calendars, Cycles, and Patterns, and in an effort to get back on track I'm hoping to make more than one post on the subject but I wanted to start with something easy. My friend Juni makes monthly reviews of her holiday observances, and with her blessing I'm going to be take a crack at doing something similar to work out, for my own purposes, what I'm doing and why. I'm not sure whether I'll just do this this year or continue on after, but it seems like a good option for reflecting on holidays and the reasons for them.
Right now I've been thinking a lot about Losar, which is generally referred to as "Tibetan New Year." I've been in a bit of a rough patch and didn't get to mark Third/Chinese New Year the way I'd wanted to, and things are coming together so that this particular New Year has the energy I'd hoped to have back in early February - I got the house cleaned late last week, I'm not completely overwhelmed right this second, and I feel... not caught up, because I never feel caught up, but maybe like I have some breathing room.
The only holiday I have planned this month is Neighbor Day, which is celebrated on the 20th, Mr. Rogers' birthday. It's both an ancestor day and a social awareness holiday. It's kind of a relief that there's only one holiday this month, considering how much else I have going on.