New January

There’s not a lot of months that people seem to unanimously hate. Some see themselves as a summer girly, others love the autumn and then there are those who live for the winter. But no matter how much you love wind, snow and cold weather, it seems that every winter person loathes January. 

It’s too cold, too dark, no fun holidays and spring is nowhere to be found yet. It’s just dark.

I really get it. And I’m not judging anyone. 

But man, I love January. 

For me, Jan 1st is when new roots are planted. A time for introspection and shadow work, but also excitement for the start of a new life cycle. And although that time doesn’t start until about two months later (usually three where I live), January is essential for me to be able to bloom wildly and freely by the time spring comes around. 

As soon as spring comes I feel the pressure to be all fun and giggly. You want to go out into the sun, see the leaves and flowers returning. Life should feel light enough to go outside everyday. I struggle with that feeling a lot. It feels like pressure to me. Like I need time to prepare before I’m able to go outside. I know it’s not real pressure. But even so, this fake thing weighs heavy on me.

I need some time in the morning to wake up, think, write or read before I feel ready to be happy and outgoing. It works the same for me with the new year. 

After Christmas I make a vision board where I think about exactly how I want my year to feel. Where do I want to be? What kind of travel would I like to do? What clothes do I want to wear? What people do I want as my role models? What forests am I gonna go to? 

I don’t really put goals or materialistic things on my vision board, just feelings. People I like, views I’d like to see. When it’s up, I take some time to become the person who does those things. If I want to walk more outside, I start that habit. If I want to be more spontaneous, I use January and February to start implementing that. If I want to do something exactly the same as I did last year, I take the time to enjoy doing that.

Do I make it harder than it needs to be? Maybe. Who knows (I don’t). 

I also love keeping Christmas lights up in the winter. We’ve taken down our tree only today. I think it’s lovely to keep some extra warm and cosy lights up during the darker months, even if the holidays are over. If our tree hadn’t begun sagging, I might’ve kept it up longer. Just removing all the baubles and other Christmas decorations. Only evergreen, holly and lights. The tree actually looked very cute with just the lights. 

Anyway, back to January. 

Now that the holidays are over, there’s no commitments, there’s no invites to parties. Everyone is broke in Jan. All the more fun when the sun does come out to play again. 

You also get permission to burrow down a little. It’s dark at 5pm, so it’s fine to stay home with a warm drink. You don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to, and when you meet up with loved ones - you can chat with cosy lights! 

Okay, this isn’t a monologue to make you love January. But I like it. 

Time to burrow, see ya!