Getting a New Lease on Life in the New Year

January 26, 2007 by wendy.

   It seems to me as though most people begin their divorces after the beginning of the New Year.  Maybe they are waiting to get through the holidays before making any life changes.  Possibly the advent of January also inspires people to decide to make a change. In fact the month of January is named after the Roman god of doorways and archways. Romans had many freestanding ceremonial gateways called jani, used for symbolically auspicious entrances, or exits.

 
   Because of my observation of these curiously timed marriage exits, I asked my colleagues in the divorce field about their perceptions with this unusual tendency.  They all agreed that the rate of initial filings certainly goes up at the beginning of the year, and after Valentine’s Day. 

 
   As a matter of fact, an article in a February 2006 issue of the Wall Street Journal discussed how Valentine’s Day is often the watershed event that motivates people to begin their divorce.  Marriages already on the edge tip over to dissolution when expectations are not met, or the romance is not there, or for any number of causes.  Moreover, according the WSJ, if one of the spouses is having an affair, it is difficult to participate in romantic Valentine’s Day activities with two other individuals simultaneously. 

 
    For those of you who have decided to change their lives and their marital status in the New Year, know that you are not alone.  Many people have decided to use the beginning of the year as the beginning of their new lives.

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