Oh, January. You are my hard month.
And I have been avoiding welcoming you.
But here we are, me and January.
So in the spirit of conscious entry and preparing for the voyage, I am here with you, January. And more than that: I recognize that you are a door.
I’m saying hello.
Reorienting myself to your door-ness, re-establishing my sense of suchness, reconfiguring my wants, and re-ordering my relationship with you. Let’s do this.
What I want from this experience of January.
I want us to have a new relationship, January.
I want to release all the expectations and all the rules about how we have to be with each other.
To release pain and grief from Januaries past.
To recognize and remember that you are not them. And now is not then.
The qualities of my new relationship with January.
The same sixteen:
Spaciousness and Sovereignty.
Presence and Possibility.
Radiance and Receptivity.
Effortlessness and Efficiency.
Adaptability and Agility.
Desire and Deconstruction.
Boldness and Beauty.
Congruence and Creativity.
Also, did you notice that each pairing has a yin and a yang side, or a ha and a tha side, if I may revert to my natural language of yoga?
And they can switch sides, if and when they need to…
Another thing. The gentleman said the other day that my super-duper power (which, apparently, is like a superpower but even better) is SYNTHESIS.
I hadn’t thought of that but it feels true in my belly, in my hands and in my feet. So I’ll take some of that too.
What I need from this January.
Gentleness.
From January and towards January.
To let go of all the things I think I am responsible for, but am not actually responsible for.
To shed and to replenish.
To fill up on what I know.
To find the new things now that the old ones are no longer working.
To make peace with my secret room.
What I am planting for this January.
Quiet.
Curiosity.
Pleasure.
Patience.
Radiance.
Shelter.
What I look forward to in this January.
Finally-finally-finally the start of roller derby season! GNR is going to do so much damage at the season opener that it’s just ridiculous. And I’ve been working with the team — lots of Shiva Nata, agility training and strengthening force fields.
And of course, Rally (Rally!). It’s going to be amazing.
Mostly I’m not looking forward though. I’m looking inward. I’m hibernating. And that isn’t so much about excitement and yaying as it is about stretching, yawning, whimpering, crying and releasing, but that is what is needed right now.
For my body this January.
It’s hard to say because right now I am so very tired.
But: I will keep taking the Bruce Wayne strengthening elixir.
And doing my marathon trainings (shhh, they’re relaxing!).
And going to dance class. And flailing the flail.
Hot baths. Warm tea. Walks when I can walk. Sleeps when I need sleeps.
Slightly future me says:
You’re doing all the right things. Keep doing them.
Stay away from unsovereign situations. Stay away from other people’s expectations, real or perceived. Make a cocoon for this growth period.
And use your costumes.
What January could be like.
It could be a nest.
It could be new.
It could hold me.
It could be a reminder of all the things that have changed since last January.
It could be space to rewrite old perceptions.
It could be comforting.
It could be kind. You think it can’t, but it can. That last sentence was slightly future me again!
I am throwing all of this into the pot.
Play with me? And comment zen for today.
You are welcome to write your own Hello, January.
Or drop off some gwishes.
Or write January a letter. Or give it a new name.
(If you like, you can peek at what we’ve played with here in other months — in July and August and September and October and November and December.)
We all have our stuff. We’re all working on our stuff. We take responsibility for our stuff. Because without sovereignty and spaciousness, this whole thing falls apart.
And we make this a safe space by not telling each other what to do, how to be or how to feel. We make room for each other.
That is all. Much love and happy January.
Follow
Hello, January.
I like you already. I’m not a new-year-resolution type person, but somehow you and the new year rolled in and I was magically a better person. I still have some stuck to destuckify, but things are going remarkably well. So January, keep on keeping on. But for the sake of intentional entering, let’s get specific.
What I’m planting for January:
Spaciousness, room to move and grow
Light and air
Love
Creativity
Tenacity
Dedication
Health
New and beneficial patterns
Hello january. So far we are most freindly.
You are called Big Snow Moon and River Freeze Moon and Moon of the Sharp Knives because your wind is so feirce. And that’s okay, January. Go ahead and be cold.
You are much less full of the Hectic as December, but also less full of Sleep.
I love how you have been full of More Art. And gentleness and space and forgiveness and amnesty. I love for you the “blessed return to routines” and for the joyful curiosity for setting up better ones. I love you for all the gentle changes and improvemnets you have already brought without making a big fuss about it.
I love how I feel smarter in january than I did last month.
I love you for being the door into this year, and for how consciously I entered you and for how consciously I’m enetering every day. I love embracing you and not fearing you. And I loev how sweet and playful and pretty you have been so far
Oh, January.
Usually I jump right in, change it all up, get a running start on the year. This year, I’m experimenting with being gentle. With using January to experiment with routines. To help build space to move what is now into alignment with what I think could be. Oddly enough, I’m almost to the point of thinking of much of the year as a new January, lets-try-this-and-see-if-it-works time.
Possibly like embarking for embarking. Hmm. I think that thought needs more tea.
My january so far has been:
Dizzying biggification. (the internal kind)
Breaking, then mending.
Emptying, to make room.
Contrasts, so that my reality becomes sharper.
Things that are mine coming back to me after long absences.
Friendships.
Rituals.
What I would like more of:
Patience. Deep love. Trust. Active destuckification. Rituals. Beauty. Zest. Intentfulness.
February me says: “You’re doing the right thing. Be happy now. Love on that spouse-person of yours. Call your mother. Keep writing. Be grateful.”
December 2011 me says: “wow. I wish I’d known I’d get THERE.”
xoxo
Hello January!
I’m excited to see you with the (very slowly) lengthening days and the chest cold seeming to move on. I still have the cough, but not as bad as in December. Also and the gorgeous weather we’ve been having.
What January Could be:
Full of possibilities and things coming together beautifully (like my Professor submitting my last Letter of Rec last night without me having to email or call him again) Thank you :-). Creating. Writing. Drawing. Inspiring. Loving.
For my body this January
Balance. This means both activity and rest. Proper amounts of sleep and exercise. The cold has retreated without being full bronchitis, unless it was, in which case it was brief. Naps will continue. Good food and less fast food. 🙂
Slightly Future Me
You’re making beautiful progress on making your dreams reality. Just keep taking little steps and it will all come together. Your dreams will come into your reach.
Sorry for the double comment, but you are also the Moon of Shifting and Change.
And werewolves because they need to frolick in my mind some more. Go frolick this month werewolves 🙂
Hi there, January. Where to start? You remind me of my dog — tug, tug, tug. Whereas I feel like the kind of tug on a river, lumbering along…
So how are we going to get along without me spraining something or feeling like I need to cheat sleep to honor my commitments? I’m geeked that you’ve introduced me to workflowy.com, but I’m perturbed at how often I’ve already tussled with the don’t-let-people-take-advantage-of-you monstahs (especially since it kind of suits me right now to have various disruptions deferred, for a little bit).
January, what I want is to feel like there’s enough of you for me to earn my living, prepare properly for meetings and rehearsals, put in time at my easel and with my camera, try out kickboxing at last, and grab some meals or drinks with various peeps. And I’d like to accomplish these things with more grace and less whining and fretting than is my tendency.
I do like that I’m consciously greeting some of your challenges with curiosity. That is already helping to check some of the wheel-grinding before it grinds them grooves too deep.
February me is reminding me that I don’t really save time when I don’t get enough sleep. And that I’ll feel better (lighter, more sovereign) if I concentrate on the projects already in progress instead of phantom jackpots.
All right, January. I’m going to take a nap. And then I’m going to re-open the file. Hang onto your leash, I’ll pick it up again soon enough.
Hello January.
Thoughts about January-ness:
Dark
Cold – except that this is from then, not now. Here in San Antonio it is often very nice in January. Still, this seems to be part of the essence of January-ness to me.
New beginnings
Long month
January is a winter month, and my experience of it seems very mixed up with winter – even though here that is a much less extreme experience. Up north, the holidays are over, there is less (for me, or in my memory) enjoying coziness and more just battening down to wait for spring.
Dear January,
You and I haven’t always been good friends. Our relationship now seems tinged by the past – the way you might be amicable with an acquaintance you actively disliked as a child. Or maybe tolerate a food that you didn’t like, and now don’t mind as much. Either way, I think we could be friends. Maybe we could explore that possibility?
I think maybe you are a time for planting seeds. Not really, I know – not quite yet. Maybe earlier than planting seeds – a time for deciding what seeds will be planted? No action yet – just lots of conscious entry. Maybe your predecessor, December is about dreaming? You are about planning? But maybe you are about dreaming. You are a month of beginnings – and it all begins with a dream.
Month of the Dreaming Moon
In January I will gwish, and I will give myself permission to let my gwishes sit or float and gather energy around them as they prepare to be seeds for planting. Things will coalesce. Hmmm. Coalescing Moon would be a good name for you too.
Qualities
permission
amnesty
imagination
reflection
dreaming
quiet
stillness
slowness
darkness
coalescing
shelter
swaddling
possibility
sanctuary
emergence
patience
receptivity
safety
Qualities and experiences I would like to gwish on/put in the dreaming pot:
connection
alignment
an improved relationship with my body
dancing
Fergus
comfort
spaciousness (especially regarding money and time)
exploration
Oh, January,
You are the true start of Winter here where I live.
In Winter, seeds rest in the earth, plants hunker down. Pupating moths and butterflies are silent on branches.
Frogs and bears hide in their pond mud and caves.
They are conserving their energy as they wait for the coming Spring.
They are transforming underneath and inside.
They embrace the cold which slows this process and allows all aspects of the transformation to happen truely.
They have entered the door into their various cocoons, where they await the deepest part of the season.
Oh, January,
Let me rest and be silent and still for these moments.
Let me work as necessary, but allow me to release being busy, flustered, anxious.
Remind me to use intuition for my projects.
Let me sit before the fire, or a candle, reading or writing poetry.
Let me embrace the grey dawn, grey days, blue-grey dusk.
Let me watch the stars; let me be content with the music of winter winds, crackling ice, hissing snow.
Let me know the power of Winter.
Let me remember what is coming.
I’m having epiphanies about how I relate to Janus’ month, and am having a good time unwrapping the positives already therein. Personal archaeology!
Sending wishes of ease and support to everyone, and leave confetti and hugs and wholehearted sighs for those who wish to have some.
January,
How fitting that you are the first month I’ve ever addressed personally and it feels
awkward..and right
I began this month full of dread. Full of fear and deep, abysmal regret. I was planning to hate you and all the January’s to come. But then…
The sun came out unseasonally early. The thermometers grew red before their time, and my heart began to heal way before I thought it was time.
Now get this straight, Sister January, I expect you to cool off again! No ice around my heart this time, but a cold day that longs for comfy quilts, steaming coffee and cuddles (with only me. After all, I am a great cuddler!)
I never thought of this month as being a time of planting but I am beginning to see that some of these seeds may take a little longer to cultivate.
Planting:
Pleasure…because its aroma makes me dizzy
Exploration…because its music is hypnotic
Strength…because its flavor is sensual
Playfulness…because your petals are ticklish!
Tenacity(DAMMIT!)…because even though your thorns are painful, the beauty of your blooms are always worth the seemingly endless wait
They will all be fertilized by HOPE.
Sweet, flagrant hope.
January, I anticipate a life-long friendship.
Hi January…
We’ve never been on very good terms because I don’t like cold weather and short days. (Usually I don’t dislike you as much as I do February, though…) This time I looked forward to you more than usual, and the first day was actually a lovely and contented one. So thank you for that.
But then you’ve seemed to settle into strings of gray, dreary, rainy days. I’m really ready for sunshine. Really ready. I need more sunshine. Really.
If I could ask a few things of you, I would ask for sunshine, and for my sinus/upper-respiratory-whatever to totally go away and for me to be well and healthy and feel good, and for a better relationship with the whole idea of you (well, not just you but winter in general).
This month I will give myself permission to rest, to do what I need to do to feel better and get well and stronger. I will give myself permission to play with art journaling and creating and not feel any sense of *should* around those things. I will drink more hot tea. With honey. I will let myself go easy with everything.
And I will make a good effort to like you more.
Dear January,
Things have usually been a little conflicted for us and this year is no different, so far. I come to you full of grief over the loss of my sweet mommy in December and unwillingness for another year to begin without her.
You are so full of challenges for me this year, January.
And I can see that you can also contain promise for me. A nesting place. Possibility. A chance to practice loving kindness towards myself. A chance to focus on my life.
I will try to soften my heart to you, January. That is the best I can do today.
I want us to LOVE embrace jump-all-the-way-in to the concept of human hibernation. All of you smart lovely teachers bloggers and wise-people I would love more thought/writings/musings on this. It feels SO NECESSARY. That’s my gwish?
Oh, January, hi! I like you so much better since I stopped trying to make you something you aren’t. Since I traded artificial “fresh” starts in for rest, quiet and withdrawal.
Yes, January, I like you much better these days.
@Corie Weaver — yes. Embarking for embarking. Exactly. That’s something I’ve been realizing about my January. I named it the Moon of Embarking, but for me, it’s the kind of embarking where you’re still moving slowly onto the boat, settling in, wrapped up warmly and standing on the deck, gazing back at the shore. It’s the kind of embarking where the bedside clock-radio has heralded the new day, but you don’t have to get up quite yet; you can give yourself five more minutes, and then five more after that, stretching in bed and thinking about the day to come. It’s beginning to begin.
Anyway. Hello, January. And I see by the Playground calendar on the wall that today is January 10 again! I don’t quite understand, but hey, it’s got to be a special day. 🙂
Here are my rapid responses:
What I want from this January: Freshness. Hope.
The qualities of my relationship with this January: Slow and sluggish. Cold and clear. Waking up. Slowly.
What I need from January: Containment. Support. Time. Patience.
What I am planting for January: Art. Healing.
What I look forward to in this January: My sweetie’s birthday. Long weekends. Cozy cuddles. New beginnings.
For my body this January: Rest. Mindful eating. Gentle stretches.
Slightly Future Me says: You’re closer than you think. The things you desire feel hard to reach right now, but you are much closer than you think. (Objects of Desire Are Closer Than They Appear!)
What this January could be like: Crisp. Clean. Clear. Cozy. Comfortable.
Hi Havi! Wishing you all good things in January! Can’t wait to see what February brings!! Fierce hugs…
What I want from this January : Rest. Peace. A break. Recovery.
What I need from January: Quiet. Heartbreak healing.
For my body this January : A day on the beach. Lot’s of swimming. Simplicity.
Slightly Future Me says :
Just one more day, sweetie, until you can take a break. Whatever doesn’t work doesn’t work. Trust me that new things will show up that work much better.
What I look forward too : quiet time on a beach away from it all. setting up better boundaries. coming back strong and recharged. Creating shelter and safety for future me. Taking time to consolidate what I know. Time to sit and write and be and nothing more. Time to tell myself that all is quite well.
Naming I shall name thee the Moon of Lovely Laughter
Hello, January!
I move in slowly.
So you have moved in slowly.
That’s okay. It can be January Friday The Thirteenth and still be saying hello.
hello.
I had a big discovery today. I think you are a month of seeing. Two-faced Janus? Seeing frontwards and backwards at once. Which somehow means seeing in a third direction–inwards, perhaps?
I think this is less a month of motion than I thought. Or maybe interior motion, rather than exterior.
Except for the walks, which are good for me. I need an inside version of the walks, or better boots, or both. But mostly this is about desire, and expansiveness, and seeing, and not, oddly about needing but about wanting.
I would like our relationship to be “it’s a big world, let’s go exploring” (Calvin and Hobbes) and not…no, I won’t even say the not part. Just what I would like.
And magic. Magic is surprisingly important. Welcome, January!
Oh, Havi, you are always such an inspiration.
I was working on a New Year’s blog post (and motto for 2012) when I read this post. A day or so later, I sat down and thought about the Qualities I wanted to see in 2012 and everything just popped into focus. Wow. Awesome.
Nothing left except the doing, now 😉
http://www.thewheelandthedisk.blogspot.com/2012/01/grabbing-tiger-by-tail.html