Hello, you. And Happy 2025!
I hope that your holidays were gentle and that you found a few moments of twinkly magic throughout these past few weeks.
I have been in a lovely holiday bubble since the 20th of December, spending loads of time under blankets by the Christmas tree, creating and writing at the kitchen table, gathering for intimate evenings with family and friends, enjoying an overnight anniversary celebration in Stockholm, marking the end of a most beautiful year with a cozy, festive night at home with my love, and slowing all of my daily rhythms way down.
However, I’ve also been longing to connect with you here and write this first letter of the new year to you. And, now, here we are. Perhaps a little bit exhausted as the holidays come to a close. Perhaps feeling well-rested and ready to move on. Perhaps filled with inspiration and creativity. Perhaps with a twinge of dread and worry. Perhaps still feeling a bit like keeping the days and weeks in this slow, soft rhythm of winter.
I am the latter. I could follow these slow, simple, carefree holiday rhythms forever. For the past two and a half weeks, I feel as if I have had time. It has been a privilege and a luxury, I am fully aware, to feel as if I could almost float through the days and nights, letting them melt into one another. And filling them with moments of magic and ritual at leisure. It has been a dreamy and beautiful holiday for me. Simple, romantic, and quiet.
But, as the wheel of the year turns and as life continues to unfold one day at a time, things must evolve and change. It is the way of nature. And, in living in rhythm with it all, I, too, must flow with the seasons and the days as they come and go. Surrendering and releasing my little holiday bubble, and preparing for the first full week of January.
So, I am beginning to move out of my bubble and into some regular routines again. But, very, very slowly, mind you. And, even if this is a new year, this is no time to rush. There is no need. Not to mention, it is counter-nature. We are deep into winter and, whether we have snow or not, nature signals to us in the northern hemisphere that this is still a time for gentleness and rest.
So, let’s slowly greet this new year together by simply focusing on one week at a time. Marking the passage of time all year long. I am so excited to move through twenty twenty-five with you, week by week, as the rhythms of life guide and inspire us.
The beginning - or is it?
The month of January is named after the Roman god, Janus. The god of all beginnings, transitions, and doors. In ancient drawings, he is often depicted with two faces, one with which to see the past and one the future.
This resonates so much with me. Janus, the god of passageways, portals, and beginnings, leading us into the new year.
But, we often think of the threshold of the new year only when we crossover from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day. And, then we are off and running. The shift has occurred and the new year has begun. It all happens so fast… and then it’s over.
However, if we are inspired by the god of January, then this entire month can serve as the passageway, the portal, and the transition from one year to the next. And, that lines up perfectly with the rhythms of this season. Because winter should be able to be winter.
The truth of the matter is that winter was able to be winter for many years because the new year did not always begin in January. For thousands of years, the beginning of the year was in March, following more closely the rhythms of nature. In 45 B.C., however, Julius Ceasar ordered the beginning of the new year to be in January, in honor of Janus. It’s a super complicated journey how we came to celebrate the new year in January in the western world, and to make this more simplistic than it actually is, not everyone followed this change for hundreds of years. But it wasn’t until 1752 that England officially moved the beginning of the new year from March 25 to January 1.
So, if you feel like this is not the time to start over or celebrate the new year, if you want to move through the new year slowly, then do just that. You have thousands of years of history and all of nature behind you.
There is no need to move ahead quickly. January is the perfect month to tend to our roots. To drop them way down deep into the earth. To even nestle ourselves deep within the earth. Slow, quiet, warm, and safe from January’s cold, biting frost and wind. We can, in fact, use this whole month for dreaming and intention setting, for reflecting and planning. It is a time for intuition and mystery as we move slowly through the January portal into a new era, a new year, a new month, and a new season.
A week of integration and slowly shifting
Speaking of passageways and doorways, the week ahead, as the celebrations of the holidays begin to wind down, invites us to linger in the in-between a little bit longer. To allow ourselves space and gentleness as we leave behind the holidays and return to everyday life. Perhaps we can see this week as an opportunity to slowly integrate and blend the past year and the new year. Because, even though we crossover a threshold and begin a new chapter with the new year, even though we are changed and transformed from the year that has just passed, we are still the same person. Our core, our soul, our deepest and highest self is simply evolving.
So, instead of closing one door behind us and opening a new door, perhaps we just walk through from one room to another, from one era to another. We continue our journey of evolution and transformation. We allow January to slowly unfold.
Yesterday we took down our holiday decor, and to be honest, this morning I was quite sad to wake and not flip on the Christmas tree and stars in the windows. I was fully aware that we would be un-decking the halls this weekend, so I spent yesterday morning soaking in the last morning with the tree lights twinkling as I sipped my coffee and wrote in my journal. It was magical.
But, this morning, even as the shift was hard to make, I took a deep breath and centered myself. I made the morning’s pot of coffee and lit candles. The sky and the snow were the same gray-blue outside my window, with a faded pink line breaking up the two. Ice crystals had formed overnight on all the windows. The air - crisp, clean, and very cold at 16 F/-8 C. And I slowly felt that soft, gentle reminder to release, to flow, to shift with it all and embrace this moment, integrating all of the cozy, magical memories of this holiday into who I am becoming in this new year, one day at a time.
These next few days for me are when both an inner and an outer shift from holiday vacay is happening as I return to work on Tuesday. But, I refuse to simply close the door on the holidays and the energy of the new year. This week will be one of crossing over, of listening to holiday music, drinking hot cider, and enjoying the last leftover sweets and dishes from our celebrations, and perhaps even enjoying a few last holiday movies.
But, it will also be a week of clearing out and purifying, of using incense and sage to cleanse the spaces and corners of my home, of organizing and cleaning out, of opening the doors and windows to let out the stagnant air and let in the new, fresh, crisp air of January.
There are plenty of ways to use this week to magically blend and integrate and slowly shift into the new year.
Pay attention to all beginnings and transitions. Welcome them and flow with them.
Ponder the sunrises and sunsets this week. Follow the moon’s waxing phase.
Reflect on what is ending and beginning in your life.
Make your mornings extra sacred and slow this week in order to give yourself a gentle, magical start to the day as you return to work or other responsibilities.
Decorate the door to your home as a symbol of crossing through the doorway into a new year.
Remember Janus, the god of January, every time you go walk over a threshold, open and close a gate, cross a bridge, or pass through a passageway.
Gather photos and memories from your holiday into a photo album on your phone or go crazy and go analog - print them out!
Mostly, I simply hope to let small rituals of everyday magic serve as a reminder to me that this week, and this entire month, is a time to gently and slowly welcome the new year. There is no rush to say farewell to the holiday vibes. Leave your tree up, keep the greenery hanging, listen to carols of light and winter. Linger in the moment.
There is no rush to be, create, plan, or do anything. Feel your way into this new year, into this month, into this week. Though we never know how much time we have, we know that we have right here, right now. And, as I move through this week and set my intention to be rooted and grounded in these deepest, coldest weeks of winter, my only resolution is be present in each moment, to rest deep in the earth's stillness and to indulge in winter's magic.
Wishing you a soft, gentle week of letting moving slowly through the portals and passageways of winter.
xoxo. liz.
🌙 Sacred Days + Folk Festivals this week
05 January - Twelfth Night
06 January - Epiphany
13 January - Full Wolf Moon
🎵 The playlist for January
Gently + slowly welcome the new year. Listen to carols of light and winter. Rest deep in the earth's stillness. Indulge in winter's magic.
Share this post