Issue 48 - What January 2023 feels like
January 2023
I’ve been putting off writing this email for two weeks.
Looking back over previous January issues ( mislabelled! ) has made me realise something that I hadn’t consciously thought before: I find the turn of the year difficult.
Unlike some of my friends, I don’t really get those feelings at birthdays so much, possibly because there is usually angel food cake and mine falls in the bright light of August, but the new year is a different story for me. It forces me to acknowledge the passing of time, that everyone is getting older, and the order of things is changing. I always feel there is so much pressure on January too - to count previous achievements and be better and move ahead and ensure you’re ‘on the right track.’ And all of this comes when it is dark, and cold, and illness abounds.
So here’s my annual counter balance. Some ideas, suggestions and phone notes that I've been collecting. As much for me as anyone else.
Wishing you a healthy 2023.
JLW x
Good Things for the new year
ONE
“Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximising scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but it's crucible.”
Katherine May, Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times
TWO
I implore you to watch the really lovely Brian and Charles
THREE
One thing I did last year that I would recommend: buying no new clothes for six months. It was so much easier than i’d imagined, so easy in fact that I largely carried on for the full year.
It was chivvied along by helping to organise a handful of clothes swaps with a handful of brilliant women. Buying secondhand, and doing some swapping amongst pals is genuinely very fun. I still dabble in new clothes, but I can hand on heart say that 2022 changed my whole attitude towards them.
FOUR
''Find balance between structures that ground and motivate you, and guilt-free spontaneity which allows you to take risks, explore, and yes, occasionally overindulge in life’s pleasures.''
Esther Perel on the new year
FIVE
I am fully aware of the irony of linking to this series, given that I have quoted someone who could be termed a guru above. It asks the question: why do we turn to charismatic individuals, thinking they have all the answers? I found it so compelling that I drank the series in one gulp.
SIX
I have a feeling making these will make January better.
This month's paintings are all mine, though of course they have been influenced by some of the greats.
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