5 Ways To Beat The January Blues
“No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.”
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
As a Capricorn baby January sees me torn. On the one hand, after the excitement of Christmas I feel the promise of new beginnings, and clean slates, but on the other find myself rather glum with trudging my wet feet beneath leaden London skies.
Despite having everything I could possibly need - a well stocked full fridge, warm bed, one remaining parent and even the impending joys of a spring wedding to plan, I still can't help but feel weighed down by those grey ol' skies.
The options? Ignore it and tell yourself to get a grip. Always important to keep perspective after all, but this route doesn't always see a lift in mood so much as draping a layer of guilt over it compounding things further. So this January I went with the flow - acknowledging I've little right to feel this way and feeling it anyway.
I even made a list of the selfish ways I adopted to limp through this frosty old month....
1. Get outside every single day. The less you feel like doing this the more you need to do it.
2. Sit down to a warming breakfast, ideally near a window bathed in what light there is. Porridge obviously awesome but a bircher muesli is great too, add cinnamon for warmth.
3. Filling your space with spring flowers. Hunting down the first bunches of daffodils to shove into any vessel I can throughout the house. Have even been known to carry a jar of them around with me if I am sitting/working in different spaces - £1 British bunches from supermarkets - done. Or why not try some scented narcissi fresh from the Isles of Scilly from as little as £11.50 - see here.
4. Creating a sun corner. Even if you are blessed with a south-facing garden it's little help to you when the garden chairs are sodden and it's 0 C. So why not make like a Victorian tourist and pull a comfy chair up to your largest window and get that sun on your face.
5. Delicious seasons one and two on Sky. If you haven't already discovered this programme, I am jealous of the gentle joy that awaits you. A sexy Dawn French cooks in navy and copper kitchens in the hotel in Cornwall that she co-owns with Emilia Fox. Set against restless seas and seasons the storyline follows the pair who were both married to the same late, great Chef. Beautifully styled interiors and feasting menus. Prime fireside watching.
Chin up lovelies, it's almost February. x
