Learning to Appreciate January

I’ll be honest here. January isn’t my favorite month. It’s winter! I don’t like winter. It’s too bloody cold. It’s too bloody snowy, especially this year. I want SPRING. I want SUMMER. Give me warmth and green and walks in the woods and thunderstorms and mushrooms and frogs and bugs and outdoor swimming. That is what my soul wants. I yearn for the green.

All that being said, ever since I started the practice of taking January to reflect on the previous year and to plan the coming year, I’ve grown to appreciate the loveliness in the slowness of January. There’s beauty in being idle, in figuring things out and slowly exploring things instead of the GO GO GO that my brain seems to want even while my body can’t keep up. I’ve come to appreciate January for what it is, for the fact that it’s a time to reflect, to plan my year, and even to accept and love the fact that I’m now a year older.

In the past, I’ve wished that my birthday could have been in a different, more summery month, but I’ve come to enjoy having my birthday in January. I’m not sure if I would do quite this much contemplation if my birthday were, say, in August, smack dab in the middle of the year’s activity. Except for during rainstorms, pondering seems most appropriate at the beginning of the year, and birthdays afford us extra fodder for those ponderings.

So, ok, January isn’t my favorite month, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love it for what it is. As non-summery as January is, it has a beauty all its own, and there’s a special beauty in appreciating where you are instead of wishing your life away. At this point, I wouldn’t have my birthday in any other month. It fits perfectly with my contemplative nature. {: