Resonates with exactly what I said about starting this year, that although I have many plans and ideas I'm excited about, there's no need to jump right into them in January.
January is a good time for quiet, slow, simple, gentle. January is a good time to continue letting all of the ideas marinate a little bit longer. The year ahead has plenty of time for concocting the creations and savoring them. It will all taste better marinated.
I’m with you on the slow front. My resolution is more rest, more writing, less news, and, more randomly, a new creative project of painting silk scarves! ☺️ Happy New Year Louise!
I may be odd but I have always loved January. I am a sucker for new stationary, and, as much as I love some parts of Christmas, I struggle with the constant excess and expectation to be doing things and having fun. January is a month with very few expectations, I can just enjoy taking my time to explore the things that are calling to me and enjoy the peace of my warm, cosy, crafty corner. No resolutions, just some gentle intentions to try to show up in the world, to explore our new area, to experiment with what I can do, and, to finally figure out how to get my patterns out into the world and in front of the people who will love them. What these will mean on any given day will change depending on my energy and capacity but they are my guides for the year ahead.
Winter is “fallow time” for me. It’s time to slow down and take stock. I have set intentions in the past: new skills I want to learn. (Tunisian crochet was 2022!). This year I want to get over my innate stinginess and do more projects with QUALITY yarn. People tend to pass along their unwanted (cheap) yarn to me and then I feel compelled to use it up before using my “good” yarn.
Concerning craft, my intention is to go back to my Sunday 10-12 habit. I used to have a standing appointment in my calendar for a craft sesh every Monday and eventually it got deleted and, well, I stopped crafting. And I sorely miss it. So back on the calendar it goes!
Oh Louise! Thank you so much for sharing my first letter of 2025. I am deeply honored! 🙏🏼 It is so amazing to be in a space where so many of us think and feel and seek to create a slow life, with deep meaning, creating and sharing our journeys all along the way. Thank you again! Blessings of magic as your year begins to unfold. 💫
This is so true….Ive had cancer twice and I’m so grateful for being healthy Time is precious. But I’ve found that it doesn’t make me hurry as much as it makes me savor the time I have
That's certainly true, and when my Dad died very suddenly and unexpectedly it definitely brought up a lot of anxiety around sudden death for me. Compounded by the death of a good friend from Uni a few weeks ago. I'm definitely entering the "more funerals than weddings" time of life. But for me, I've found that dwelling on that is unbearable for me and causes a kind of paralysis of fear. The only way I can deal with it and move forward is by adopting a mindset of abundance.
Resonates with exactly what I said about starting this year, that although I have many plans and ideas I'm excited about, there's no need to jump right into them in January.
January is a good time for quiet, slow, simple, gentle. January is a good time to continue letting all of the ideas marinate a little bit longer. The year ahead has plenty of time for concocting the creations and savoring them. It will all taste better marinated.
https://createmefree.substack.com/p/a-gentle-january-for-create-me-free
I’m with you on the slow front. My resolution is more rest, more writing, less news, and, more randomly, a new creative project of painting silk scarves! ☺️ Happy New Year Louise!
Ooh. I've never tried silk scarf painting but that sounds fascinating
I may be odd but I have always loved January. I am a sucker for new stationary, and, as much as I love some parts of Christmas, I struggle with the constant excess and expectation to be doing things and having fun. January is a month with very few expectations, I can just enjoy taking my time to explore the things that are calling to me and enjoy the peace of my warm, cosy, crafty corner. No resolutions, just some gentle intentions to try to show up in the world, to explore our new area, to experiment with what I can do, and, to finally figure out how to get my patterns out into the world and in front of the people who will love them. What these will mean on any given day will change depending on my energy and capacity but they are my guides for the year ahead.
My goal is to learn to crochet this year, and I’ve chosen ‘read’ as my word of the year, but I don’t have any resolutions.
Winter is “fallow time” for me. It’s time to slow down and take stock. I have set intentions in the past: new skills I want to learn. (Tunisian crochet was 2022!). This year I want to get over my innate stinginess and do more projects with QUALITY yarn. People tend to pass along their unwanted (cheap) yarn to me and then I feel compelled to use it up before using my “good” yarn.
Using the good stuff is one of my intentions too
Concerning craft, my intention is to go back to my Sunday 10-12 habit. I used to have a standing appointment in my calendar for a craft sesh every Monday and eventually it got deleted and, well, I stopped crafting. And I sorely miss it. So back on the calendar it goes!
Oh, that's such a good idea. A non negotiable date with yourself.
Oh Louise! Thank you so much for sharing my first letter of 2025. I am deeply honored! 🙏🏼 It is so amazing to be in a space where so many of us think and feel and seek to create a slow life, with deep meaning, creating and sharing our journeys all along the way. Thank you again! Blessings of magic as your year begins to unfold. 💫
Starting slowly is good but over the last year I had two significant events which stopped me in my tracks.
No, we don’t have plenty of time. Taking things slowly - I’m happy with that, as long as it doesn’t border onto procrastination.
I had a major operation. By the end of February it was confirmed that I didn’t have cancer.
In September, my best friend ended up in hospital with symptoms which were diagnosed as Stage 4 cancer. She was dead by the end of October.
We don’t have as much time as we may think.
This is so true….Ive had cancer twice and I’m so grateful for being healthy Time is precious. But I’ve found that it doesn’t make me hurry as much as it makes me savor the time I have
That's certainly true, and when my Dad died very suddenly and unexpectedly it definitely brought up a lot of anxiety around sudden death for me. Compounded by the death of a good friend from Uni a few weeks ago. I'm definitely entering the "more funerals than weddings" time of life. But for me, I've found that dwelling on that is unbearable for me and causes a kind of paralysis of fear. The only way I can deal with it and move forward is by adopting a mindset of abundance.