New week. New month. New year.
Time to . . .

Okay. So here we are . . . over a week into January already. I don’t know about you, but I find the beginning of the new year to be kinda . . . stressful. There’s a “new start” vibe that is hard to ignore. “New-year-new-you.” Resolutions. Plans. “Begin as you mean to go on.” All of it.

It’s a lot.

I mean, what if you’re not ready to hit-the-ground-running when that ball drops or the calendar page flips over? What if you’ve been focused on festivity and family instead of planning and reflection? What if you need more time to decompress and settle in. What if you need to hibernate a little more . . . before you re-boot?

What if . . . January was NOT about starting fresh or beginning again or knowing just where you’re headed, but was – instead – a revered space between what IS and what IF?

This year, I’m craving a more gentle beginning to my new year. I want a more mindful and thoughtful start. Even though I had a lovely and (really quite) relaxed holiday season, I am wanting more time to recalibrate. I don’t need to jump into All The Things all at once. I want to take the time to consider – with gentleness and curiosity – just how I might like my 2023 to unfold.

For myself, I’m declaring January a . . . liminal space. (A liminal space is the space between what IS and what will happen NEXT; it’s a transitional space — physical or psychological.) Liminality . . . is being on the threshold of a new place or life stage. Like the New Year. Like January.

It’s commonly accepted that “auspicious days” (like New Years Day) are the “best days” to launch a new start or to make planned changes . . . so the pressure to “begin again” or “start fresh” on January 1 is understandable. But also . . . not necessary! Any day is a good day to begin again. Or to try something new. Or institute a new plan. Any day can be an “auspicious day” . . . if you make it so!

I’m going gentle into January this year. I’m going to revel in this . . . liminal space . . .  while I figure out how I want to go on — and what I want to do/work on/explore in the new year.

There is plenty of space right here . . . in January!

“I do think that probably one of the pitfalls of New-Year’s-resolution culture is that it encourages us all to buy into the idea that you need to make some big change in order to be a minimally acceptable, worthwhile person. And that doesn’t leave any room for the thought that maybe you’re more okay than you thought. Maybe you don’t need to change in some particular way. Maybe reconciling yourself to certain ways that you are is a more powerful thing.”
— Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

So. If you’re sitting around here on January 9 . . . already feeling “behind” . . . like you missed the boat on setting a course for yourself in the new year . . . I’m here to invite you into the liminal space with me!

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January is here.
Take your time, my friends!
Be gentle with yourselves.
It’s never too late to . . . 

Start Your Engines!