The joy of starting slow
Settling into January.
For me, January is marked by two distinct energies. The first encapsulates everything I sort of hate about the new year—that is, the cultural pressure we place on ourselves to have everything solved/aligned/ready to go by January 1. It’s the: new year, new you dialogue we’re all sold: that if we just make the effort now, the rest of our year will roll out in front of us friction-free.
While there was a time not too long ago where I certainly bought into this sort of fresh new year thinking by mapping out goals for myself—both personally and professionally—I think since becoming a mother and watching my life dissolve into what can only be described as chaos, I’ve willingly surrendered to the fact that trying to have my shit together for some arbitrary date in the calendar is just not realistic.
So instead, I’ve found myself sinking into the second energy that I feel January captures.
That of: slowness.
No matter the season of life you’re in, January always feels a little bit strange. The month is often marked by catch ups with friends and family, long lazy days with no set schedules and for those with children, a never-ending stretch of school holidays to survive and surrender to. Even for those who start back at work early in January, the pace of work is often slow. Many of our peers and colleagues are still on leave, enjoying long weekends away or an extended summer holiday. And really, many workplaces don’t really pick up speed until February is in full swing and the school holidays have finally come to an end.
In my past lives, I’ve experienced the full spectrum of how January can roll out. I’ve previously returned to work on January 2, stepping into a quiet office with less than a handful of other friendly faces. Other years I’ve chosen to extend my leave and reluctantly dragged my salty, sun-kissed self back to reality more towards the middle of the month. At other times I’ve been overseas visiting family in NZ—sulking about the lack of sunshine and summer weather.
But this year, I’ve sort of written January off completely. I’m back at ‘work’ in the sense that most of my clients are back online and I’m therefore working on projects for them in between beach visits and looking after my kids who, frankly, are ALWAYS at home. However, I’ve definitely given in to the chaos that comes with having no set schedule and I’ve tried to tune out the noise that’s screaming at me to set lofty goals, kickstart a new fitness regime and declutter my house. And honestly, it’s freeing.
I’m under no illusion that the year ahead will be friction-free. In fact, I know I’ve got a year of immense challenges ahead of me—both personally and professionally. So the joy of starting the year slowly means that I’ve given myself space to just go with the flow of it all and if that means giving my two year old chocolate for breakfast (which I did today as a reward for finally sleeping through the night), then so be it. I’ll give her a vegetable tomorrow.
Bring on February.