I could not disagree more! Obviously, this is my personal opinion based on my experience of January.
I don't get the "Christmas blues" or the quiet time after Christmas. Not only do we have celebrations in January but maybe, subconsciously, I've tried to make sure things are planned so that we don't get the 'January blues'. Plus, it's ok to have a quiet month and let the stress of Christmas drift away, to reflect on the year just gone and what is to come in the new year we've entered.
I also make a conscious effort to look at the small things that made me happy and are a highlight of the month. For the last 2 years I've written my monthly highlights in my journal. It's a good way to reflect on the big and small things. If you get to the end of the month and feel like it's been rubbish it's so nice to look back on and remind yourself of the good things that happened, the things that made you smile or made you feel a certain way.
I also use this to "plan" my year. If I can see a pattern that a certain month is generally quiet it can either mean:
1. I use that to my advantage and know that "X" month and "X" month are busy but it's ok because "X" month is quiet. (For example, February and March are quiet months for me and I embrace that)
2. I can change that and make an effort to make that month a bit better going forward if I need/want to.
This was my January-
My fiance turned 40!
In previous years we've had a night out or a night in and then we do something later on in the year with his birthday being so close to Christmas. I usually buy an experience day for us to do later in the year almost to celebrate him a second time.
This year was a bit different.
I did a "40 days to 40" countdown which included a gift everyday up until his birthday. As much as it gave me stress it was a nice level of stress and I was quite sad when it ended. The gifts weren't all big, some were packs of his favourite biscuits, air freshner for his van, or a voucher for me to make him whatever brunch he wanted, and also quiz nights (highly recommend creating your own Mr & Mrs Quiz).
We had one night away in Bury St Edmunds. We usually opt for Norwich but decided to do something different. It was so lovely to go somewhere new. We had a lush meal at Mowgli (first time we've ever visited a Mowgli) and had some lovely cocktails in a Mighty Boosh themed bar. And did some shopping the following day.
I also had his family send me videos wishing him a happy birthday. He is Dutch and his family all live in the Netherlands (and one in America) so I asked them to send me video messages for me to put together for him. I expected this to be a relatively short video but WOW!! they are a creative family and blew me away. The video ended up being 7 and a half minutes long. I absolutely loved putting it together for him and was so grateful for their input.
His dad also surprised him by coming over from the Netherlands, then getting the train from London to go for dinner with us. This was the first time his dad had met my boys and my mum and I loved us all being together.
5 Year Anniversary
3 days after my fiances birthday is our anniversary. This year was 5 years! We don't really make a big deal of anniversaries as such, same with Valentines Day. No pressure to buy each other anything or panic buying a card. I did my usual of making an Instagram Reel for him, he put an Instagram post up (controversially I am really big on PDAs on Social Media. It's not for everyone but personally, I like showing him off and get the same feeling if he posts about me) We don't live together yet (every other week we do) and we weren't together this year for our anniversary BUT he did turn up at my door, unannounced, and brought me a bouquet of tulips (my favourite).
Visiting the office and seeing my lovely friends
I always joke that I only make an annual trip to the office. I'm lucky enough that I can work from home and with the office being a 3 hour drive away, I essentially lose 1 working day in travelling. I don't have meetings that require face to face interactions, I have my children every other week and also, my anxiety and the way I cope being at the office can sometimes make me feel flat for days after.
We didn't have a celebration together at Christmas, and to be honest I find it hard to fit in time for that with work always being super busy in the run up to a busy Winter Event and also with Christmas duties etc. So I put something in the calendar for 3 of us in our small team to meet up, work face to face and then go for a nice dinner. We also invited along one of my best friends (promoted from colleague to best friend) who is leaving to move to Sweden.
Despite me not feeling great and actually ending up losing my voice it was so lovely to spend time with them. We had a lovely meal, enjoyed some drinks, had a proper catch up on things work and personal, and I left the following day NOT feeling that flat, low feeling I usually do.
Work
As well as the above I really feel like I've had a really good month at work. I feel like I've taken control with certain things, I've put forward tools to help colleagues not only with work but also personally from a Wellbeing perspective.
I also made an effort this year to put into practice reflection at the end of the week. I'd put it on my calendar at the end of every month last year but never actually did it. This time, I do it every week. I have a presentation I complete every week with prompts "Connect, Reflect, Progress and Successes". This has become a routine for me every day, if something is frustrating or bothers me I make a note of it, if something went well, I write it down straight away. And then at the end of the week I go through, make any additions and have a moment of reflection.
Fangirl
I'm still a bit stuck in the 90's and early 00's when it comes to music. So Solid Crew being one of my favourites then and still now. And yes, I watched and loved Top Boy.
One Saturday I was watching TV with my boys and the new PG Tips advert came on. "Oh what?! Legend!!" I said loudly and my boys responded with "Why? Who's that?" Rather than telling them I said I would show them. Loaded up Youtube and the exact point Ashley Walters aka 'Asher D' does his rap. I took a photo, posted it on Instagram and tagged him in it, not thinking he'd see it. A few minutes later, a notification on my phone. ashleywalters Mentioned you in their story.
Full on fangirl moment. He shared my story and it just made me super happy.
This is one of those moments that people might find silly, might find immature but for me, it was a big moment. I loved it.
Delft Blauw
I absolutely love Delft Blauw and have done for years. We like to visit antique shops and in the last 4 years I've started to collect pieces. I won't buy anything super expensive, generally not spending more than £15 on anything and will also buy something even if it has a chip on it. I don't think anything becomes less beautiful just because it's damaged.
I also now have a rule of only buying something if I can have a use for it too. So something I can put flowers in (my plan for when we get married is to have a variety of Delft Blauw pieces with tulips in them for table decorations) or candles etc.
We went to an antiques shop and I managed to find two Delft Blauw pieces. A Bol bottle (£5!!) and a vase (£7). I love them and am so happy to have added them to my collection.
