It might be New Year but it’s still the middle of winter
As I mentioned in some of my newsletters running up to Christmas, it is something of a paradox that just at the time when energies are lowest, daylight is shortest and much of the natural world is hunkering down, dormant or in hibernation, we humans manage to put ourselves under the most extreme pressure to be doing more. Christmas, and the start to the new year, can be so full of expectations. Parties and gatherings, late nights, social appointments, shopping and meal preparations to be attending or organising are frequently most concentrated at this time of year. For some it can also be a time when there is the greatest disparity between how society suggests we ‘should’ feel and how we actually are, leaving some people feeling their most isolated and alone. It is almost as though the aspects of the world that humans have created speeds up, just at the time when we would naturally be slowing down.
