January is a strange month, don’t you think? It arrives immediately after the holidays, and yet it feels a world away from the festive chaos of December. It is the return of routine after a season of letting loose and going with the flow. A clean slate, if you will, another crack at getting it right this time. With January comes a shift in priorities, resolutions for a better life and a happier you.
For perfectionists, January can seem both invigorating and threatening. A bitter wake-up call in the midst of a well-deserved slumber. Or, it can serve as a time to breathe. To reassess. To start over.
To show yourself—and everyone around you—a bit of compassion.
December saw me take my first break from writing in a very long time. It was the month that I said goodbye to my home sweet Houston and instead tried Dallas on for size. My best friend got married on a frosty afternoon in Austin, and my heart melted with her every smile. Christmas was a merry melody of warm words and reverberating laughter, friendly faces and well-worn traditions.
Putting pen to paper didn’t seem so important then. As the year came to a close, it was easy to while away the time at parties or in the comfort of my parents’ place, perfecting my favorite hot cocoa recipe; to sit in a local coffee shop across from a friend, rather than a computer screen, carrying on a conversation in between sips of cold brew. But there’s something about the New Year that stirs my soul to create. Like a winter wind that scatters fallen leaves upon the ground, January kicks up the fragmented thoughts that have settled in the corner of my mind and finds me grasping for some semblance of meaning. Or a tiny sliver of truth.
January will be the month that we found our first real home, that I embraced new opportunities within this community. And that, at last, I started writing again. Not because I was expected to, but because after weeks of writer’s block, it finally felt right.
The first month of 2017 is halfway over, and I’m slowly but surely making my way back to the page. Back to this familiar and somewhat forgotten space of mine. And while my head is dizzy with dreams to change it up, make it better, and start fresh—my heart whispers, just write.
So write I will.
Co-Founder & Editor | Emily graduated from the University of Texas in December 2013 with a degree in English and journalism under her belt. She currently lives with her husband in Frisco, where she works for a chiropractor and moonlights as a lifestyle blogger. On any given day, you can find her hanging out at a quiet coffee shop, nose-deep in a good mystery novel or snapping photos of her extra frothy cappuccino.
Emily, I love this! Can’t wait to keep reading your words.
Thank you so much, Ally! Your support means the world.