Five free ways to fight the January funk!

Things to do in your home, garden & life which don’t include Dry January!

Please be aware that this is the last post that will be under the name JP’s Life and Loves. From Tuesday 16th January this newsletter will have a new name with new branding. You will receive an email on Tuesday which will tell you all about the changes. It will still be from me and still be full of all the things you love, but just have a shiny new name. So, keep your eyes peeled!

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I received these wooden letters along with the rest of the alphabet at Christmas - knew they’d come in handy! Not time for tulips, but definitely about time I planted them!

January. It’s the month that a lot of people seem to want to skip. The month that seems to drag on for eternity; the one in which we are all broke because of the Christmas spend extravaganza. The weather is shit and anything that was remotely fun, joyful or exuberant disappeared into a dark dingy corner of the attic along with the baubles, tinsel and half-working lights. But, in my quest to not wish away time, as I wrote about in my new year post and to search out glimmers of excitement, I’m determined to put the most uneventful, snooze fest of a month to good use!

This time last year, however hard I tried, I could not dig myself out of the gloom. It was very unlike me, tending toward the glass half full posse, it took me by surprise. I wasn’t depressed as such, just in a really bad January funk!

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A Funk - Temporary sadness. Feeling sad and down and not knowing why. No motivation to do anything and always tired. Almost like you're missing something but not know what it is. Like a small phase of depression that only lasts a couple days or weeks. - The Urban Dictionary.

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There is no way I am allowing myself to be in ‘that place’ this year. For a start, I’m too busy! There’s a hell of a lot going on behind the scenes in my life at the moment, most of which I can’t reveal just yet (in time, I promise!). So, the last thing I need after a great holiday and christmas break is to find myself in the depths of the January blues. It’s so easy to slip into it though, particularly with all the rain we’ve had.

Before you know it you’re scrolling endlessly on the explore page inexplicably finding middle aged men in baby romper suits dancing in a zoo absolutely riveting. Anything and everything is more exciting than what you are supposed to be doing, which is usually work. It doesn’t help that every holier than thou advice guru is telling you to start dry January too - it’s not too late! Really? Who the hell came up with that gem of a serotonin inhibitor?

“I know! It’s the most depressing month of the year and everyone’s fed up, let’s tell them all to stop drinking and go on a fat-free diet. That’ll be fun! Ooh, ooh and while we’re at it, let’s tell them it’s bad luck to keep your decs up after the 6th so that in the darkest month of the calendar year they’ll be devoid of light and mirth!” Devilish giggling ensues.

Ain’t nobody got time for that! So, in the immortal words of the legendary Cher, it’s time for you and I to “schnap out of it”! Here are my top five things to do to get the hell out of that funk!

Five free things to fight the January funk

Lights!

First things first, if you haven’t already taken down all your christmas and holiday decor, then don’t! Forget the superstitious nonsense. Perhaps you haven’t managed to get them back in the attic yet? Grab those twinkly bulbs of joy and drape away my friends! I mean it! Festoon your home with the merriment of the fairies and bring some much needed illumination to your soul. Fairy lights aren’t just for christmas, they’re for life! I have them on a shelf in our kitchen and over our headboard in the bedroom. It just gives me a little nudge of wonder every time I walk past them and reminds me of brighter days to come. Do try it!

Lists!

I don’t tend to venture too much into the dizzy realms of new year resolutions. I always find you end up a little disheartened and jaded when they don’t come to pass. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you‘ve failed by the second week of the year. I definitely don’t say I’m going to achieve anything in particular in January. For me, the first month of the year is just to reflect, plan and revive the soul. None of this dry January, or Veganuary nonsense. What even is that? It’s often a dark old month and I need every vice I can get my hands on legally to get through to February. I can’t be doing with denying myself simple pleasures in the darkest month of the year. I’m fully aware that I’ve got to lose a little weight and I know that I need to drink less and exercise more. Let’s think about that when it’s a little warmer though, shall we? What I do start though is a list. Well, lots of lists, actually!

Lists are the only way I’m able to achieve all the things I want to do. They are the only way I can remember everything and the best way to keep my spirits up throughout the year. Gradually ticking off things that I have done feels so good. I’ll let you into a little secret: with every list that I start I add at least two things I’ve already done and a few that are super easy. It tricks the mind into thinking that you are indeed god of all list makers and deserve a medal just for being alive.

It’s so incredibly easy after the festive season to get bogged down with daily life, making Christmas feel like a distant memory. Life is so incredibly fast paced now, there seems to be so little time anymore. It’s so important to make space in your life for the unexpected, the surprise, or just a moment of peace. A space to breathe and think and to allow things to happen. Writing things down, creating a list, can be the best way to make that space. It’s not all about the jobs that need to be done. It’s also about you and remembering that you and your health and wellbeing matter.

Leg work!

Ok, this is the hardest one as far as I’m concerned. But, if you want to succeed then you’ve got to do the leg work and by that I don’t mean hard graft. I mean actually use your legs and get walking, get out of the house! It’s freezing cold outside, I know, but within five minutes of forcing yourself to put on your wellie boots you’ll feel much better for it. Do it every day. If you have a dog, then that helps enormously. Unless, of course, you have a dog called Missy, who’s old and tired and can’t be arsed anymore. “Just feed me so I can go back to sleep again Dad!”

The leg action will release endorphins which stimulate relaxation and improve your mood. These chemicals interact with receptors in your brain, which help give feelings of wellbeing and happiness. Who knew? Not only that, being outside and connecting with nature is one of the best ways to lift your spirits and get your creative mind buzzing again. Some of my best ideas for writing and creating photographic or video content have come to me while I’m out walking. It’s about giving yourself the space to think and untangle the January jumble of ideas you have in your head.

So, there’s no need to join a gym just yet unless you really want to. You just need to get moving. Just start. Get into the garden too. The earth in our garden is way too hard from the frost to do much in the way of digging or weeding. However, there’s nothing to stop you doing a bit of tidying up, cutting back dead foliage, or even cleaning out the greenhouse. Perhaps plant up some pots with spring bulbs, it’s not too late! It will all aid towards a clearer mind and get you ready for the year ahead.

Loot!

No I do not mean rampaging your local department store and squirrelling cushions underneath your cardigan pretending to be pregnant! But, you can ‘shop your home’ - loot away to your hearts content with things you already own and give your home a whole new look for free.

If you are anything at all like me, then you will have too much stuff. So much that a lot of it isn’t even out on display, but sitting in some long forgotten corner of your garage, basement, or loft. Often there are treasures you didn’t even realise you had. So I urge you to go on a treasure hunt at home. While you’re at it, re-arrange the furniture! It’s one of the simplest ways to refresh a room and make it feel new again.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been to people’s houses and wondered why they decided to place a sofa or a chest of drawers in such a way that it blocks the natural flow of a room, or even worse, an entrance or exit. Note to all: contrary to popular belief, your furniture is NOT, I repeat, NOT glued to the floor! Why not go loop the loop crazy and just try putting them somewhere else, or on a different angle?

Everything doesn’t have to be against a wall either. Throw caution to the wind and place that sofa in the middle of the room. Add a console table behind it and a lamp or two. Not near a socket? Get a rechargeable bulb - problem solved! There are no limits to what you can and are allowed to do with your own furniture and your own accessories in your own home. Go wild! You’ll be astonished how different a space can look just by moving things around. It can make the most enormous difference to your mood. Have fun!

My labelled larder.

Label!

Can you tell that I have a bit of a penchant for organising things? I can’t help it. It’s my slightly OCD mind (Mr. C would omit the word slightly). One of my favourite presents ever was a label maker. I kid you not. I love it! It’s a compulsion that gives me great big dollops of pleasure and there is no end to the plethora of things that can be organised and labelled. It is something that you need to watch though, as it very much lives on the same avenue as pressure washing or spray painting. Once you start you can’t stop!

Last January I sorted my pantry out and labelled all the containers so that it was easy for me to find everything. Not only did it look super pretty, but everything had its place. This year I’m concentrating on filing. We have the most ridiculous amount of paperwork piled up around the house. It’s time to sort it, file it and label it within an inch of its life! We have recently been writing our wills, so I want to get all the papers that need to go with it, insurance documents, shares, bank statements, etc and keep them all in one handy place for whenever we need them. Labelling things, putting them in files, jars and containers and sorting them into some kind of order that suits you, will allow your mind to be free of the clutter. It gives you the space to think and to plan and to dream.

That’s it, that’s my five free things to fight the January funk. I could go on. I haven’t even begun to discuss cleaning, wardrobe clear-outs and the magic of sending out your wildest dreams to the universe in the hope of manifestation! If you’d like more, or you want me to delve deeper into some of the topics above, then please do share in the comments below! This is your newsletter after all and so I want to give you want you want.

….and finally

If you want to see something very funny and perhaps just want to wallow for a few moments longer doing absolutely nothing, then please watch this iconic clip from Will & Grace! Schnap Out Of It!