Sometimes I think January is the loneliest month. The Holidays are over. The darkness still lingers in the morning. The cold really starts to set in. Everyone seems to be hibernating.
I also think that the late afternoon sky breeds loneliness. It is when the sun is at the low angle and it sits the way it does. It also seems there are more clouds in January than any other month.
I know I have to work hard to maintain my wellness during this month. I try and make sure that I spend time outside. Yesterday there was an hour or so of sunshine late in the afternoon right before the sun dropped below the hill behind our house. I went out in the backyard and found a spot in the sun.
While I sat in the sun I had a chance to connect with a friend on the phone. I gave him a call and we chatted for 20 minutes about nothing much. But we had a few laughs and I felt good. I know that connecting with friends helps me overcome January pulling me down into its isolation.
January makes me understand while some animals hibernate. I want to hibernate during this month. It is so much easier to stay under the covers or sit on the couch under a blanket than get up and move. I don’t go into the office every day and I spend about half the week working from home. When I do that I tend to spend a lot of time sitting. I know that is not good for me and sometimes at the end of the day my upper back hurts between the shoulder blades.
I recently heard a doctor talking about how sitting in one place can be bad for your physical and mental health. One suggestion was to get up from your workspace every 20-30 minutes and move. It helps the body energize itself and it helps the mind refresh.
Today I took that doctor’s advice and I tried to get up if I noticed that I was sitting for more than 20 minutes. I had to make a conscious effort because it is easy to get lost in the laptop’s screen. I would get up and walk around my backyard. It was nice because my dog would join me. It was a fun little excursion for us especially when it started to snow in the afternoon.
Since there are only twelve months I guess it is not the worst thing if you are considered the loneliest month. I hope January doesn’t hold it against me because of what I think of her. I like the name January-it is named after the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions. I also like the fact that the days are getting longer. If I keep working hard at doing the things that make me feel less lonely, spring will be here before I know it.
