Hello and welcome back!
January started with a lovely slow pace for me and an incredibly restful break, and I hope your year started with the same relaxed feeling.
Usually I start the year invigorated by the excitement and hope of what a fresh new year will bring. The driven, Type A, entrepreneurial me who sets big goals and goes after them. However this year I’ve really enjoyed leaning into the slow pace of our holiday, letting ‘the other me’ – the one who wants to experience life slowly and without any digital presence, the one who takes time to savour the moments and knows there’s so much more to life than achievement – lead the way.
We spent our holiday travelling through Austria, soaking up the Christmas magic in beautiful cities, and the snow and skiing in small alpine towns, simply enjoying the slow pace of our time together. It was everything. Talk about the ultimate recharge!
I think many of us feel this pull in life. Two forces pulling at you depending on what life is asking from you at the time. Filling your life with too much, with things that you should be doing over things that you actually want to be doing. My love-hate relationship with social media certainly exacerbates this feeling. So this January my focus is all about Doing Less!
I’m feeling drawn to a minimalist mindset. Saying no to invitations and social engagements that fill my calendar, leaving me feeling overcommitted or pressed for time. Saying yes to quiet evenings where I can cook a leisurely meal, read a good book or flip through that design magazine still sitting on my desk.
As part of Doing Less, this month and for the year ahead, I’m set on finding little ways to mark the moments before another year passes by in a blur. I want to make sure I soak it all up and to fully experience all the feels. No matter how busy life gets, I’m determined to find small opportunities each day that ground me and bring me back to the present. After all, it is those little things that add up to a year, and life, we won’t forget.
Here are a few things on my list:
- Start a morning ritual. While I’m not a coffee or tea drinker, I do love the ritual of a morning cup of something at my desk while starting my day. It feels both indulgent and inspirational.
- Use my essential oil diffuser more. It sits on my desk and can go unused for days (months) but I do love the calm and luxurious feeling it creates when I do use it.
- Set aside one evening a week to cook with my kids. Dinner time is typically the most rushed part of my day, as I wrap up work and try to whip up a nourishing meal in under 10 minutes. This year I’m trying to carve out more time in the evenings to do meal prep and cooking with the kids – no matter how messy it gets!!
- Start reading books again on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad that I’ve neglected my love of reading over the last few years, so I’m looking forward to spending more time reading this year. Any recommendations, please let me know!
- Light more candles.
- Sit outside and watch the sunset. Too often once the kids have been put to bed I rush back to my desk to carry on working. This year I plan to take advantage of our views and watch the sun set – and not from my desk either!
I’d like to wrap up this note by saying a huge thank you to everyone who has read my blog, interacted with my Instagram posts and worked with me over the course of 2024. It was an incredible year and we can’t wait to share an exciting 2025 with you!
Thanks as always for following along!
Xx