Why January is just January.
Bear time. I'm going back to sleep.
My friends who wish me a happy new year always know how I’ll reply.
“Happy mid-winter rest,” I’ll say.
New Year’s — for me — is Spring Equinox.
If I believed that this was the new year, I’d be in the paradox of thrill and delight (my new novel releases this Saturday, 1/11!) and freezing my ass off with 2 days of no power with only a gas fireplace to keep me warm. No internet. No power. I’ve been cooking meals on my little rocket stove — which is kinda fun pioneer, camper woman vibe until the wind, snow and ice make it a real party. However, nothing gets in the way of my warm drinks.
I am not a cold weather person. Not in the slightest.
But it is what it is. Thank goodness for nearly 3 decades of yoga, which teaches me that though it’s REALLY uncomfortable right now, it will pass.
Resolutions? No.
No resolutions in January. In fact, no resolutions at all, unless it’s simply to live in the day, minute by minute.
And it has been — delicately put — trying. I live in my world of trust — but I am only human.
Day after day of no work — I’m an entrepreneur who relies on calendar booking — and so I say, Hm, January should be interesting.
Life is a paradox. What goes up, must go down. Justice card. Wheel of Fortune. Take your pick.
I’m still in the delight of my new book, I Was Once A Person. I sip a hot cup of black coffee at the neighbors’ house —- and I’ve never appreciated one more than this. I hop on their Internet for the first time in days and realize I don’t miss it that much, though it would be nice to watch some YT. It helps to not have a smartphone even as I miss the convenience right now, though my friends who have one have reported serious wonkiness in this crazy weather — but not having one has helped break the addiction of always wanting to reach for something to fill the time or restlessness. Thank goodness for my stacked Kindle and old school flip phone (yah, I’m cool yo), which is so annoying to use for text that I rarely do. Thank goodness for my survival supplies and small power bank for charging that I bought years ago and store in a backpack in my car. They’ve come in handy as there have been more power outages in the last 3 months from hurricanes and such.
I started a solid “meditation” practice a few months ago. 15 minutes each day, just sitting in stillness.
It’s saved my ass. This is not easy but not devastating. Such is life — and the old time pioneers would laugh at me right now. But hey, maybe I was them and now enjoy the somewhat easier life.