Start of September Memes for People Who Believe the New Year Starts in Fall

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Sep 1, 2026 6:30 PM EDT

Who decided that January was a good time to begin something new anyway?

Sure, it might be the start of the calendar year, but in a not-insignificant section of the world, it is also cold and dark and just after the excess of Christmas. If there was ever a time to hibernate and cut ourselves a little slack, it is around that time. Whoever decided that resolutions should be a part of it are sadists who should not be trusted.

In contrast, this particular month that we find ourselves in is a lot better suited to locking in and making an effort towards achieving our goals. The sun doesn't set at 4 PM yet, and we have 120 whole days to make good on the promises we wanted to make to ourselves earlier, but life got in the way. They say that diamonds are made under pressure, but it's not like this is anything too crazy. We're hardly in starting a college essay 12 hours before it's due territory.

Even if you have nothing major that you hope to achieve in the month of September and the months afterwards, you can appreciate the fresh, back-to-school energy that it brings us no matter what age we are. Fall is just around the corner, and so is whatever the rest of 2026 has in store for us. This is a good time to take stock, and naturally, it is important that we do that via the entertaining emotional processing that comes from memes. There are some for every month.