Right now, I'm at home in Essex, dressed in a pyjama top and my boyfriend's jogging bottoms, half-heartedly attempting to write my literature review, for my dissertation... but I can't help but feel deflated... and I'm sure I'm not alone.
It's the January blues, and I think the end of last year is to blame.
I love the winter. Summer's eve seems to be sad for some, but letting go of the summer is easy for me, as it means the colder months are coming... And how can that not excite you? The season of glitzy, glamorous parties, dazzling lights, shorter days and longer nights, comfort food galore and sweet, sweet spicy smells... If there was a fuller time of year, it's now.
And I'm infatuated by it.
I have, and always will continue to buy into the red and gold wrapping paper, the pine scented candles, the ultimate way to make your turkey on Christmas Day, the perfect LBD to don to reign in the new year, with the perfect guy on your arm, and the right drink in hand…
There's a certain magic that comes with New Year's Eve. The optimism for the new year is heartwarming and something everyone communally takes part in, it comes with the season.
As much as I love this time of year, I also find it to be bittersweet – ever find you like the lead up to Christmas rather than the actual day? Like the preparations for a drink filled NYE rather than the actual few hours of partying? I feel like as the new year dawns, there’s an unhealthy obsession with rounding off the last year in the most unrealistic ways. Trying to make amends, trying to shift that last bit of weight, as we all almost prepare to attend 2017’s funeral. And we make unsustainable resolutions we beat ourselves up about not keeping... What part of that sounds happy to you?
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"
The resilience of the British is beautiful. We went through a lot last year, globally, as well as in the United Kingdom. The events were horrible but we always somehow find a way to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and tread on through life. And of course, this must fuel our need to make the next year great. However, the start of the New Year needn’t come with the pressure it does. Yes, the lights come down in January, but that doesn’t mean the light should go out in all of us. There is joy in bringing in a new year, and that should go beyond making some sort of lifestyle change, and clearing clutter out of the garden shed. It’s a new year, but it’s also the continuation of time, meaning January doesn’t have to be your start. Believe it or not, contrary to popular belief, time IS something that’s on your side.
I feel we have this downer in January because we feel time is running out, there’s the pressure to start afresh, to almost become a different person as the clock strikes midnight… Which doesn't happen. Don’t let the new year kill your spirit, evolve as you please. Still continue to start it with the same hope and optimism for what the future may hold but don't lose sight of what's important - enjoy the year. Choose your own starting point.
C x
"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. But there is no other land. There is no other life than this."
- Henry David Thoreau
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