Holiday Recovery

The heater just cycled on. I just took a sip of blessedly hot coffee. It’s the last morning of Christmas tree enjoyment. The New Year has just come around the corner beckoning like a will-o-wisp with promises of shiny new systems, organization, decluttering, and lost weight. I smile knowingly at this entrapping light. The great home overhaul never happens in January, but in pockets, in slow diffusion throughout the year. I won’t be trapped by resolution adrenaline this year. So, I write, enjoy my coffee, and let the sound of the heater fade into the background.

Holidays can be enchanting. From Halloween to the New Year, they fill our homes and families with extra time with loved ones, extra food, and extra events. They break open routines that have grown stagnant, light up our homes, and enchant us with traditions.

But, and there’s always a but, they can also become overwhelming, discouraging, and burdensome. Some holiday seasons we take on too much, some we can’t take on anything, and many just begin to feel heavy by the end. We sail through the in-between week and wake up to winter with all the frivolity behind us. The go-getters pop out of bed on January 2 with a list of resolutions. The rest of us groan and stumble around with holiday-hangovers. How do we recover from the most wonderful time of the year? How do we get our hearths, families, and homes back on track without turning into the Wicked Witch of the West as we try to cut back on the amount of sugar in the house?

Rest: Our go-go-go grind of a culture doesn’t leave many of us with any room for resting. Everything and everyone are clamoring to do it all and be it all and post it on Instagram. After the holidays it is so important to give our homes and families a chance to recover. We must not carry on at the rate we do in December. The real beauty of January is winter and winter is rest. Winter is when the world around us slumbers. Cozy burrows, warm nests, naked trees, all the world slumbers and maybe, just maybe we might slow down and rest, too. Grab a cup of chamomile, a soft throw blanket, and think about some of these productive ways to rest:

·        Hit up your local library for coffee table books about gardening and plants. These massive volumes filled with lush photos will warm you right up and remind you that spring is coming. Grab a notebook and pen and start planning your spring garden.

·        Coffee Table books about decorating or food might be more up your alley. Either way, don’t do things, just take in beauty and inspiration. Don’t run out and buy anything. Simply nourish your creativity.

·        Get that audiobook you’ve been meaning to listen to or catch up on a podcast, but instead of working out or cleaning, sit down and crochet, knit, embroider, or cross-stitch.

·        Order some herbs and focus on healing teas and tinctures. These take time and fill the home with good.

·        Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis aloud.

·        Read Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. (Pagan, but cozy and restful.)

·        Let the early dark give you permission to stop your day sooner than usual, curl up on the couch, and do something quiet.

·        Set out a notebook and jot down any goals, resolutions, or projects that spring to mind, but let them sit and simmer before you tackle them.

·        Write a letter to someone you didn’t get to see during the holidays.

·        Keep your calendar as socially clean as you can in January. Especially the first two weeks. Try your best not to sign up for outside-the-home commitments. I know this one is hard and possibly impossible, but do your best to give yourself, your home, and your people a chance to breathe.

Routine: Nothing has as bad a reputation as routine. We often act as if it is a tale-tell sign of a boring life, but routines are actually comforting guideposts for our family throughout the day. They signal to our whole home that it is time to wake, sleep, get to work, or stop work. They keep life rolling along at a steady beat so that no one is rolled over or left behind. As the holidays are packed away, it can be tempting to stay at the breakneck pace of the last 8-10 weeks. Consider, instead, returning to your pre-holiday routines:

·        Bedtimes – remember when you had a consistent sleep schedule? Take January to return to it.

·        Mornings – by not burning the candles at both ends, give yourself space to have a morning that isn’t sheer chaos. Get up early enough to move slowly and wake up.

·        Meals – getting back to the normal family menu at normal family times will work wonders on everyone’s overwrought emotions and digestion.

·        Chores – the simple work of laundry, dishes, and cleaning being consistently done at the same time instead of just higgledy-piggledy wherever they can be worked in will do your family’s sense of comfort wonders.

Reset: Instead of jumping headfirst into the goals of the year, take time to reset. This will help you make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew while the holiday fog lingers in your mind. It also gives you a clean slate to start from in both your home, projects, and plans.

·        Put away the Christmas decorations. It’s hard to know what to do with this new year when the Christmas decorations are still sitting around.

·        Declutter. Getting rid of books, jewelry, clothes, décor, dishes, makeup, medicine, unused pantry goods and more that have been sitting around will help you feel lighter mentally and emotionally. I’m sure you got some wonderful gifts. Use the new things to help you check the value of keeping the old. Also, don’t be afraid to create a re-gifting box for things that don’t suit you.

·        Check your systems. Before you tackle a project, give your home and yourself room to breathe by watching the systems and seeing if they still work for you. You may need a new way to manage projects. You may need to simplify. You may need to spruce up some old systems before anything new can happen. It might not be a good idea to tackle sourdough, kombucha, or fermenting (I say to myself) if you can’t consistently keep the house clean or the dishes kept up.

·        Review. If you haven’t already done it, take some time to review the last year and think about the coming year. Reflection is a great way to reset. Make it a game with your kids to review the highlights of last year, a fun date night conversation with your husband, or get a new journal and write some thoughts.

One of the biggest blessings of the holidays is their ability to get us out of the rut of life. One of the other big blessings is their ability to help us appreciate the rut. Many of us have been elbow-deep in flour, sugar, parties, cocktails, gifts, and people. January doesn’t need to continue at the same speed and trajectory as December. Use the winter season to rest, get back into routine, and reset yourself and your family before you tackle resolutions and goals and weight loss. Get back into nutritional foods and nourish creativity, delight, wonder, and order.