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January is often called “the cruellest month”. In the past 24 hours alone, I’ll bet you’ve heard someone say that at least twice. Because the day I’m writing this is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year according to, well, anyone who works in marketing. Yes, that really is all Blue Monday is: a branding opportunity first coined by a psychologist in 2004 as a way of selling holidays.
By now, this is well known. And yet, every year, our social media feeds, TV ad breaks, and billboards become awash with references to why today is so desperately dismal – and what we can spend our money on to pick ourselves up.
It’s a noxious narrative that has spilt into all of January, characterising it as the worst month of the year. Everyone, we’re led to believe, is broke, sad, grumpy, and just generally rather unhappy with themselves. All this despite the fact that nobody ever even called January “the cruellest month”. The phrase is a misnomer referring to the first line of TS Elliot’s “The Wasteland”, in which said month is not January at all. It’s April.
But back to January, which I think has been wrongly maligned for far too long. Because I’d argue there’s nothing miserable about this time of year at all (aside from the weather, obviously, but that’s somewhat out of our control). In fact, it’s often when I feel the happiest and most optimistic about my life, my mindset, and the year ahead.
I’m not going to regale you with some woo-woo nonsense in a bid to sell you something, I promise – there’s enough of that lurking around as an equally capitalistic riposte to Blue Monday. I will, however, make a case for this being the best month of the year. Bear with me.
Firstly, there’s the simple fact that a new year is the optimum opportunity for renewal. Come 1 January, you can wipe the slate clean. You can put all the mistakes, disappointments, and bad decisions behind you and look nowhere else except forward. And even though this is very much more of a mental exercise than a logistical one, it’s still pretty exhilarating and can help put you in a good frame of mind.
Personally, I always feel excited by January because you don’t know what lies ahead. You’ve got four seasons and 12 months to go; when you reframe this as a positive rather than negative prospect, you open yourself up to an infinite number of possibilities. You could meet the love of your life, or wind up having an incredible career pivot. On a smaller-scale, you might make a new friend, or rekindle a relationship with someone from your past. Of course, there will be hurdles; there always are. But going into the year with the right attitude can make these far more bearable when they come up. All of it can be invigorating if you let it.
And even if we choose to restrict yourself by abstaining from alcohol or meat as part of some sort of personal challenge, we can still do these things from a place of positivity by thinking about all the things we’re opening ourselves up to (better sleep, a clearer mind, and possibly better skin) instead of limiting ourselves from. There are endless positives to come from feeling galvanised to join the gym, quit smoking, and focusing more on fitness and wellbeing. These are things to celebrate rather than chastise.
Another reason I love January is that it marks the end of December, which, for me, is always the hardest time of year. As someone who doesn’t really do Christmas and has a very small immediate family (my mum and her boyfriend), I find the festive period exhausting and isolating. There’s so much pressure imposed on families, leaving anyone without the perfect nuclear structure made to feel as if they’re somehow less than. A problem with no immediate solution.
There’s also too much importance placed on spending money and culinary indulgence: buy all the presents, drink all the booze, and eat as much chocolate as you possibly can. I hate it. And yes, I’m very OK being The Grinch-slash-Scrooge in my friendship group. Even if you feel otherwise, Christmas is always tinged with melancholy whichever way you look at it. Maybe you feel nostalgic about the past, or find yourself longing for someone who was with you last year that now is not. There are always reasons to find something to feel sad about. My point is that come January, I feel relieved that all this is over. Like I can finally take a deep breath and move through my days without feeling anxious about all the things I might be missing out on. It’s liberating.
Frankly, I’m also just a bit fed up with everyone around me telling me how much they hate January. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you walk around, all misanthropic and Eeyore-coded, you’re going to wind up making yourself feel worse than you actually do. It sounds sentimental – and possibly a little obvious to some – but as I’ve got older (I’m 30 now), I’ve started to realise just how much control we have over our own state of mind. A lot of the time, being negative is a choice we make, particularly if the only thing fueling that negativity is something as arbitrary as the time of year.
Another reason I love January is that it marks the end of December, which, for me, is always the hardest time of year
The only thing that’s rubbish about January is our collective mindset, which has been predetermined by a set of companies trying to make money out of us. We can choose not to let that noise in.
I’m telling you, January can be great. So far this month, I’ve spent quality time with my closest friends, worked incredibly hard on myriad creative projects, and laid out an array of exciting plans for the year that will help keep me motivated. I feel more energised than ever before. Once you shake off all the nonsensical marketing rhetoric, you will too. Just give it a chance.
