Do you love January?

I love January; I love December too! They are the months of gathering-in, hunkering-down, taking stock, planning, visioning and for a fresh start.

The end of January and the beginning of February sees the beginning of Spring for many countries in the Northern Hemisphere, marked by ancient festivals like Candlemas, St Brigid’s Day, Imbloc, etc. The festivals fall around the time of the first full, or new, moon or the sighting of the first wild snowdrop in bloom signalling the regeneration from the depths of the dark and cold.

You will notice as you look into the garden, walk in the park or drive to work that the trees, once bare, are starting to show the beginnings of new growth and the bulbs are pushing their tentative shoots out into the new year.

As living organisms we too are affected by the changes in season; from the gathering-in and planning of the cold dark months we begin to respond to the lengthening days and all the possibilities that are ahead of us. This simple knowledge is something we don’t always remember, and we maintain the high expectations of ourselves the whole year through and don’t allow ourselves to listen to our bodies and acknowledge the rest and recuperation that we need. Yes, we may all have busy lives and that is what is demanded of this 24/7 world - however, how much do we add into our lives that need not be there? What added pressure do we bring into our lives that is not essential or perhaps not essential all the time?

A bit like our wardrobes or our garages and sheds, we need to have a good clear out, tidy up and re-organisation; to re-connect with ourselves and the lives that we have ‘created’. Are they supporting us or sabotaging us?

Allocate yourself some time now to look at what is truly essential; make sure you look at everything so that you know it has an important place in your life now. What can be given a new time-slot; what can be done away with completely; what rejuvenates you; what needs to stay and could do with some mending or updating? 

So now, what does your new life look like? Might there even be space to do something that you have always dreamed of?