Messy

We find ourselves here again at the start of a New Year. Yet somehow the beginning of this year feels a little different to most.

As we thought about the New Year unfolding before us, our minds quickly turned to the not-yet-planned days and all the possibilities, hopes and dreams contained within each. Whilst normally these thoughts come with nothing but anticipation, we felt a hint of unease alongside them this year.

For many of us, 2020 will be remembered as our most unpredictable and uncertain year to date and, whilst we had hoped the heralding of a New Year would bring with it a much-needed antidote to such adjectives, it’s become apparent we’re not quite there yet!

So, what do we do when our usual New Year’s expectancy is a little battle worn and tarnished?

We make peace with some mess.

It was Laura Carrocci who reminded us of this in her first email of the year.

January can be a messy month regardless of the year it’s following and sometimes the pressure we place on ourselves to embark upon New Year’s resolutions, choose our words for the year and/or plan those not-yet-planned days can bring with it unwelcome stress and unease.

And so, we need to remind ourselves that regardless of what’s going on around us or what we may or may not have achieved, each day is a gift. It may be messy, imperfect and ordinary, but it’s also incredibly beautiful if we take the time to look at the many details that fill it.

This year we’re determining that, despite the conflict of anticipation and unease within, we’re going to tackle 2021 one day at a time, knowing that a full and beautiful life is composed of a million ordinary, messy and sometimes challenging days.