As I sit here quietly sipping my tea, gazing at the bare branches outside my window, watching the birds and squirrels play their winter games, I’m struck with the contrast between this month and last month. Last moneth was the height of the holiday season, filled with family, friends, rushing about, celebrating, glittering lights, fancy clothes. It was fun, invigorating and frenetic. This week is quiet, catching up on communications and work, taking a deep breath and contemplating the coming year. It’s like a sigh after a big laugh, calming and restful.

I wonder if the “holiday letdown” we hear so much about is merely this coming back to normal period, this bridge between party and everyday living. The contrast is so vivid that we tend to think of this calm-down period as depressing. What would happen if instead, we thought of the first few weeks in January as a welcome respite from the energetic holiday time? If we took a deep breath, looked around us and said, “That was fun! And it’s good to get back to calmness…”. What if we looked at the work we’re coming back to as a good thing? As an anchor-point that keeps us grounded, that offers interesting adventures each week, new challenges and opportunities?

Just as during the holidays we could choose to enjoy the frenzy that comes once a year, or complain about how hectic it is, we can choose how we look at this beautiful recovery time at the beginning of the year. We can feel let down that all the gifts and parties are over, we can immediately rush to list out resolutions and goals for the coming year, or we can give ourselves a couple of weeks to recharge our batteries, to simply “Be”. We can take some time to gently move back into our work and personal routines, knowing that we don’t have the obligations that we did a couple of weeks ago. Our holiday work is done, and now we can move on.