Reasons to be cheerful in January
+ 3 easy positive things to do this month
It’s often called the worst month of the year. One long Monday. There’s even a whole day dedicated to making us feel down in the dumps if we didn’t already - Blue Monday - which this year falls on January 20th (no doubt there is some pointless merch available to buy to try and cheer us all up. Hello capitalism!).
But I’d like to buck the trend please. I love January. In fact, I would go so far as to say it’s one of my favourite months of the year. This passion for the beginning of the year seems to have happened in the past five years or so, as I don’t remember welcoming the weeks following the winter solstice with such glee when I was younger.
I’m pretty certain it coincided with my pivot into sustainable fashion in 2019, when I ditched fast fashion and the high street for good, went freelance as a sustainable fashion journalist and content creator so that I didn’t need to write about those brands or trends anymore, and moved to the Isle of Wight from London. I slowed down my shopping habits and my life in general, and the knock on effect was that I started to appreciate different things in life. Turns out that sustainable fashion isn’t just about clothes and the people who make them - it can change other things in your life for the better, too.
So if you’re struggling this month, I hope this list serves as a little pick-me-up to get you through.
The birds start singing
A couple of years ago, I noticed that birds know about the winter solstice. As soon as the days get longer again, they start chirping away in the morning. Literally, the day after the shortest day. I’ve done a quick google, and it seems that there is some science behind this; male birds take it as an alarm to get ready to select a mate and defend their territory, so they start chirping at dawn. Of course, the solstice itself is in December, which means by January they are really starting to get into full song.
For me, this makes getting up in the morning so much easier, especially since they start their chorus just before that other natural cue to haul yourself out of bed - sunlight - has made an appearance. Robins, blackbirds and great tits are really something to celebrate, a welcome reminder that spring is just around the corner. I’d also encourage you to take part in the Great British Bird Watch, which happens every January. Spending an hour counting and identifying the birds in your garden or local park is a great for a bit of mindfulness.
The days are getting longer
As the garden birds have already reminded us, the days are getting longer. I also think that on sunny days, the light looks different this month. Down here by the sea, it often has a sort of pinky hue to it, which gives the sensation of being warm, even when I’m not. By the end of January, the sun won’t set until 5:14pm, and that’s a massive improvement on last month when we were distracted from the short days by all the twinkly Christmas lights. Which brings me to…
The house feels bigger
I find that there’s nothing like taking down the Christmas decorations to make the house feel all spacious. Well, every room except the spare room, where I am storing the boxes of lights and ornaments until I can be bothered to put them back in the loft. But I can shut the door until February if I want to, because precisely no-one comes to stay in January. I also take this opportunity to have a little rearrange of furniture, lamps and bits and bobs, which really freshens up my everyday, especially since I work from home.
A time for good habits
Rather than focusing on the negative and giving up my bad habits, I prefer to reintroduce good habits that I enjoy which may have fallen by the wayside. Little things like remembering to make overnight oats every evening so that I don’t resort to grabbing a piece of toast mid-morning rather than actually eating at breakfast time, or taking the time to read a couple of chapters of my book before bed instead of aimlessly scrolling through Instagram stories.
I’m not going to bother joining a gym (last time I did this I had cancelled my membership by February), but I’ve updated my running playlist with more tunes that are the perfect BPM for my pace, which makes me really motivated to do three half hour runs a week (manageable, but still worth the effort). If you fancy a listen, it’s on Spotify here.
Look around, there are signs of new life everywhere
We often think of February’s daffodils as heralding the start of new life in Britain’s gardens and parks, but I had a wander around my patch yesterday and stuff is happening all over the place. My hellebores are in flower, as are the primroses here and there if you look hard enough. Our mimosa tree is about to burst into fragrant yellow bloom just two years after we planted it (when it looked like a dead twig), and foxgloves and granny bonnets are showing their leafy greens in promise of two of my favourite spring flowers that will arrive in May and June.
But while we’re on the subject of flowers, daffodils are back in the supermarkets. I picked up four bunches for less than two quid today! And nothing makes me more cheery than those first vases of daffs dotted around the house.
While we’re feeling positive, here are three great things you can do for sustainable fashion this month.
Support small indie businesses. Even if you’re resetting your shopping habits by doing a no buy month, or even a year, it’s still vital that we support the sustainable businesses we want to buy from in the future. I broke my own no-buy year in 2019 early for this very reason. You can do this on social media - every follow, like, comment and share means the world to a small business - or by making sure that every gift you buy for someone else is from a responsible independent brand.
Take the time to repair what you have. January encourages newness, but that could mean giving something old a new lease of life. I’m going to be replacing the zip on my favourite parka for the second time - it’s nearly ten years old and I wear it every day for dog walking - as well as giving all of my winter boots a good clean and polish.
Don’t bin your wardrobe clearout! We’re all becoming more adept at reselling and donating the clothes that still have some life in them, but worn-out clothes don’t need to go in the bin. I recently wrote a comprehensive directory to help for The Telegraph which you can read here (there is a paywall but you can read a few articles for free).
And finally, a big (slightly belated) happy new year to you all!