January Survival Strategy

Jan­u­ary is a bleak month. It is ush­ered in with an income tax notice (and for some peo­ple a hang­over). The trees are bar­ren. The Christ­mas bills are com­ing due. Real­ity is back, and it is dressed in drab. The weight seems heav­ier each year.

Me?

I have some tools for han­dling Jan­u­ary that I highly rec­om­mend: movies, foot­ball (the run-up to the Super Bowl), a dog with a sense of humor, more work than I will ever get done, the hunt for some really cheap three day escapes — via lowestfare.com, sky art (in a land that has no snow), and a chance to pon­der all new beginnings.

Imag­i­na­tion is either your sal­va­tion or your demon. This is when nature goes into its tomb before its spring res­ur­rec­tion. For many of us, it is also the “win­ter of the soul” when every­thing seems frozen in time. The trees are bleak-looking and the browns and grays of the farm­land remind one of the aban­doned civ­i­liza­tions of old.

Jan­u­ary is the oppor­tu­nity to pon­der all things dead (Hal­loween ought to be in the mid­dle of Jan­u­ary some­where). With­out death, there is no clean slate for new life. Who would want Alexan­der the Great hang­ing around and brag­ging about his con­quests all these many years later? We are taken off the stage of life so other actors may have their chance too.

This is the month to be reminded that life is within. It is the stag­ing area for life that bursts upon the scene as flow­ers. Set­tle in and embrace it. Winter’s silence is the nec­es­sary pre­lude to nature’s spring concert.