What if you actually quite like January? Finding the magic in the blue.

For almost all of my adult life I have disliked January. It was something I enthusiastically vocalised, adding to the already loud melee of doom. “I hate January,” I would inform anyone within earshot. “It is cold, grey, miserable and thoroughly depressing. February too.”  

Or so I thought……

Growing up, this was the narrative. January and February became months to fear. My mother, working herself into a frenzy of martyred exhaustion throughout December, would collapse into an inevitable, numb depression at the start of every year, pointing her finger at the culprit. January. There may have been a correlation, but this is a long way from causation; there was far more at play than the month. January, however, was burdened with the blame, and so began my lifetime of winter associations and expectations. 

Perhaps a different social narrative could have shifted this? Today is delightfully entitled “Blue Monday". A day where we are all expected to feel low. Probably the worst we will feel all year. Says who? Well…….everyone.

The media spins the story and we all sing along.

Our rational brains, half joking, enjoy the camaraderie of shared gloom, while our subconscious brain laps this up as truth. Another make believe story, internalised as fact……..Yes, that's right, “we all hate January”. (For anyone sceptical about the power of our minds to influence the brain and body I encourage you to read the work of Dr Ellen Langer, professor of psychology at Harvard and a specialist researcher in this field. Also Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan, consultant neurologist and specialist in mass psychosomatic (mind-body) illness, once referred to as mass hysteria, of which there are multiple, current, “inexplicable,” large scale, global cases).

Casting aside expectations as much as we can; what if the issue is less with January and more with the space and time she affords us?

Where other months offer distractions, January's quiet pause can become a window to our soul.

Throughout history blue has represented truth, trust and wisdom. Maybe Blue Monday is the day we get to witness our hidden truths, our deepest desires, and our greatest fears. If we follow this hypothesis, and become a little braver; we could rebrand Blue Monday as Magic Monday. The day our path becomes clearer. And with this clarity we get to take action.

Because January is apparently the loooooooongest month ever. 

Time, the thing we complain there is never enough of, January offers us in abundance. 

This year I have realised that I love January. Which does not mean all of January is amazing; like every other month of the year, she is full of ups and downs. And yes, she is different. Her beauty might be less obvious, less shiny, less A-lister. She is quirkier, edgier. January might feel more challenging, but she is just as beautiful. 

January, you beauty.
I love the return of your quiet routine to my daily life.
I love your lack of expectation.
I love your space; your pause and reflection.
I love your uninterrupted creative time.
I love stargazing in your evenings.
I love your sunrises and sunsets - those skies!
I love seeing your sun and moon dancing together. 
I love your light.
I love your cold, frosty mornings.
I love your snow.
I love the return of green and brown and the smell of your damp earth.
I love your wind and rain because they make me feel alive! And
I love curling up in front of a log fire, flame-watching as I thaw. 
I love a flickering candle against your grey sky.
I love your snowdrops.
I love your daffodil tips poking through heavy soil. 
I love your morning birdsong.
I love that you offer a whole new year stretching ahead of me, full of possibility.
January, thank you for being you.