January, overwhelm and regaining hygge

 

I have a love/hate relationship with January if I am being honest. Always have. I love it, because of my background and interest in coaching and self development. I love the freshness that they idea of a whole new year gives you, the feeling that you have a blank slate and can design a year exactly how you would like it to be. For the last few years I've chosen a word of the year, an intention, and this has helped me to focus on what it was I wanted from the year and how I wanted to approach things. It felt like a golden thread on which to move gently from month to month.

Yet January can also be overwhelming, I think because it comes with this expectation that things can be different, will be different, must be different. A blank piece of paper is great - but it's either stressful because you can't think of anything to fill it, or stressful because you can think of so many things you start feeling like your brain is going to start popping out like a character in a TV cartoon series.

And, it's usually cold, feels like it is such a long month waiting for payday, and is missing the festive feel that was around over Christmas. As my parents would say, it's very much a time of going "back to brass tacks". But it has so many moments of beauty when we allow ourselves to slow down and see them and experience them.

This year, I've definitely felt those tensions between wanting to get on, and the slowness that the season feels like it is demanding from me. I've spent more time at home. I'm currently writing this, tucked up at home, heating on, with a cup of tea on the side and feeling cosy. I'm learning how to do things my way. Or, to be more precise, to tentatively find a new way of doing things.

I've always been a rusher through life. I like to read quickly. I flick through things to get to the end. I try to pack too much in. And this can be seen as a good thing - the world loves a sense of productivity, action and getting things done. And yet I'm starting to wonder if that's the best way for me. I often jump in too fast where a slower approach gets me better results in the long run.

So this year I am allowing things to unfurl a little more gently. I'm switching on the twinkly lights. I'm allowing myself to see what happens. And I'm going back to breathing and thankfulness as things that make a difference for me. Find my art around "breathe" here.

Let me know how you're approaching this start to the year and how you access those moments that bring you joy.