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January is a typically slow and quiet month.

Online though, there’s already a lotta noise from “experts” about starting the year “right” (with a long checklist of must-dos, of course), finishing as much as we can this month (like there aren’t 11 more months in the year to do so) and downright silly always-give-your-three-hundred-percent-and-never-stop sound bytes from one of the popular business coaches I follow online (reader, I unfollowed him).

So let’s make it official, shall we, and raise our right hand, put it over our heart, and quietly yet firmly say, “Fuck that!”, to all these intimidating and draining messages & influencers.

With the heaviness and messiness of these human transitional years, we don’t really need to be punishing ourselves into starting our year well.

What we need to do now is to give ourselves—and each other—the space and grace to honor our own needs and heed our own rhythms of beginning, pausing and then starting again.

Instead of the warp speed we’ve learned to operate on for years and decades, let’s live our hours, days, weeks and months at a more moderate or slower pace and give ourselves the gifts of time and openness to really experience and savor these. Let’s rest in the peace that we can, indeed, begin again whenever and however we need to.

Although, if you’re anything like me and need just one teeny-tiny reminder to help you remember what’s important when you find yourself on thresholds and edges, I recommend taking with you this tiny badass poem from poet, writing teacher, and author Victoria Erickson, just like I am.

Just a reminder

that you don’t have to

make resolutions.

Or huge decisions.

Or big proclamations.

You can just set

some sweet intentions

and take each day

as it comes.

May we all have a truly good year and a genuinely good life.

~