January is my favorite month of the year.
It’s not simply a matter of aesthetics—though I do appreciate the beauty of bare branches, snow-covered ground, and a monochromatic winter landscape.
The appeal, however, is more psychological than visual: after the excesses and over-stimulation of December, January is like a huge sigh of relief.
Where December is noise, January is silence. Where December is indulgence, January is restraint. Where December is crowded and chaotic, January is empty and serene.
Where December carries all the baggage of the previous year, January is a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to begin with a clean slate and a free spirit, a chance to eliminate unproductive endeavors and concentrate on new, more promising ones.
January provides me with renewed inspiration to live a minimalist lifestyle. In January, I buy less, eat less, and stress less than at any other time of the year. Instead of shopping, I avoid the stores and clean out my closets. Instead of dining out, I enjoy simple, healthy food at home. Instead of keeping a busy schedule, I relax, knowing I have a whole year ahead of me to accomplish my goals.
Where December is more, January is less. And to this minimalist, less is beautiful.
Some very nice sentiments about January, this is quite poetic. I absolutely love January. The snow is crisp, white and fluffy in my hometown of Buffalo, and January is all about hope, change, and a sense of control in re-Designing my life each year.
Thank you for the beautiful reminder.
– Charley
Beautifully expressed. I just wish we could have this feeling of serenity and optimism at the beginning of every month, even December!
Well said! I love the fresh start of a new year. Thank you for writing such a wonderful blog. I was just telling someone that you have my favorite layout on the web – which says probably more than it should about it considering how many places I’ve scoured online over the years. Take care and good luck in the new decade!
January is definitely a year to cut back
My resolution last year was to cut back on chemicals and go back to basics..
This year, it’s to NOT buy anything for my wardrobe for all of 2010 which ties into my trying to keep under a $20,000 net for everything budget for the year.
It may seem like a lot of money, but it’s one baby step at a time!
What a great, fresh start. Added you to my blog reader! :)
found you from Simple Savvy and I like what you said here. Very much how I feel about January. I don’t even have a calendar yet for this year, feels good.
Aww, thanks for the nice words, Charley {blush}. Glad to hear from a fellow January lover!
Minimal Student, you’re absolutely right–I’d love to be able to maintain this feeling throughout the year.
Jeff, I appreciate your kind comment and the props on the layout. Basically, I just took a popular WordPress theme and stripped it bare. :-)
Welcome, Everyday Minimalist! Those are great resolutions–I did a No New Clothes Challenge in 2008, and it was a wonderful experience. I look forward to following your progress on your blog!
Glad you found me, renee, and hope you enjoy a very serene January!
I found your site through early retirement extreme and I have to agree with him that this site is great. I am always looking to reduce expenses and increase income, this site is very informative. I feel the same way about January and am glad it is here. Keep up the good work on your site.
Thanks so much, Doug–it’s great to have you here!
Thanks for the very inspiring and beautiful post, MM.
Another great post. Although down here in Australia January is blindingy hot, beachy bright, scorching… I’d love some fluffy snow and monochromatic scenery! We’re heading for 41 deg C next Monday.
Thanks for your condolences, too, that’s so kind – we’re getting there.
I’m glad you liked it, Mia.
Thanks, Michelle. Wow, 41 deg C–I’d love to visit Australia someday, but it won’t be in January! :-)
January is the calm after the storm. The time between Halloween and Christmas is very overwhelming for me. I tend to go into hiding. January is an fresh awakening for me. It’s time to cleanse and renew.
I couldn’t agree more, Heather!
January has historically been a depressing month for me, but I love how you have been able to turn it around for me in this one article. Love your work, keep it up!
~ Angela
Very nice post (as usual). I wonder if we would appreciate the “austerity” (for lack of a better word) of January as much without the excesses of December?
As always, this post is Lovely. January is like a cleansing month after all the end of the year over indulgence. Thank you for that perspective. Instead of trying, and failing, to keep some “I’m going to work out everyday for an hour in 2011” resolution, I like this “cleansing” “renewing” “refreshing” kind of view on the new year much better.
January has always been my favorite month. No holidays, birthdays or obligations. Just rest and peace. Ahhhh….
January is my favorite month, too. It contains my birthday, mid month, and when I was a student, the semester would just be getting started and my friends would forget my birthday. My mom would bewail that there was nothing in the stores after Christmas (and I guess planning ahead wasn’t an option), so I decided it was up to me to celebrate my birthday for myself. I also realized that just one day put a lot of pressure on it, so I created Kathryn Fenner Month–all month, I do whatever I want to do. Thirty years later, I have found that even though today, my birthday, is all sucky here in the slushy South (we don’t “do” winter storms down here and everything is shut down), I really don’t mind, because my life is pretty satisfactory most days now. Since becoming a minimalist, I don’t want stuff anyways, and I have plenty of time and resources for good experiences all year round.
Happy Birthday, Kathryn! I love the idea of celebrating all month. You go, girlfriend! :)
I missed reading this post last year, so am just catching up with your beautiful ode to January. I’m a musician, so between Thanksgiving and Christmas I am extra busy with rehearsals and performances. It’s challenging and fun, but I’m always ready to take a breather in January.
Lately, the excesses of Christmas have begun to hurt me — instead of feeling festive and excited, I’ve felt unhappy and saddened. No bad life changes that might be creating these reactions — I’m just tired of “celebrating” Christ’s birth with overindulgence. This year I didn’t do a tree, gave only gift cards and homemade goodies to my children and aged parents, and, outside of my musical commitments (which earn me some income), the only activity I participated in was the wonderful Christmas Eve service at my church. It was great!
For January, I’m enjoying the frost, rain, and fog (with occasional sunny blue-sky days when the snow-capped mountains that surround the Sacramento Valley are breathtaking). We have lots of migrating birds that winter here, and I enjoy their activity and music. I love cleaning, paring down, and organizing — I never wait till spring to give myself that pleasure!
Have a marvelous year! I’m looking forward to your future posts.
I love to read this at the beginning of each year! I always look so forward to January for all the reasons listed here. I also love to pass it along to my friends and family. Thanks for sharing this.
January is usually cold here. But it is a good time to sort through possessions and get rid of some you don’t need to keep. I was looking through some of your older posts and finding ones to motivate me to clear out some more things. Thank you.
I’ll never look at January again in my same, old way. My fresh-start-month has always been September: new school, new term, university… I never did a new year’s resolution, I did new-school-year-resolutions ;-) and I do prefer warmer months.
But this post is so calm and serene that just made me change my mind :-)