Even A New Years Tree...

I move into January in a transitional way. I deliberately do it slowly and with purpose. I don't just erase the merriment and festive stimulation of the recently passed holiday season by putting everything away, I consciously put myself and my home into a period of transition as I welcome the new year with reflection and hope.

I really loved my Christmas decor this year, all pink and white and silver. It was a calming and soothing colour scheme, very different from the jolly reds and greens. That is not to say however, that my entire home was focused in the a pink theme as I kept the festive reds, tartans, greens and golds in other areas of my home. My main living room space was very cheerful in the pinks this year and I will do that again. Maybe some of the joy from the fact that I had a real tree for the first time in years. Being a tree lover and someone who loves being surrounded in nature, having a live tree this year was lovely.

I hesitated on taking down my decor this year because I was enjoying it so much, but, it is a fact, Christmas is over, so it was time to move forward into the new year. However, I have discovered something about myself, as I have just mentioned, I like to transition slowly and deliberately as I ruminate about what I want out of the next year of my life, and with those thoughts, I start the year, at least for the first few weeks of January with a tree still up, but the rest of Christmas taken down.

Yes, the live tree is out...out of the house, and the fresh greenery boughs I put up at the beginning of December, certainly for safety's sake. Even though the live tree was always watered and was still viable, the fresh branch boughs were changing colour, and needed to go. (I will be taking my tree and greenery to a farm not far from here for food for the farm's goats, after reading a recent social post.)

I had my faux tree up in my bedroom, and so I moved it into my living room and redecorated it simply as a New Year's tree. I have left my tree up into the first few weeks of January before, just removing all the coloured balls and ornaments and leaving the tree with just the white lights to shine. and I love it! This year I decided to go one step further, by adding a New Year's tiara to the top, and by adding some silver and mirrored balls, and the New Year's horns that I had. At the tree's base I laid my sequinned tank top that I wore on New Year's Eve...it is the perfect tree skirt for my New Years tree!

For the rest of the living room I added a couple of New Year's type of decor to my coffee table for fun! (I even dug out my small mirrored ball to remind me of a New Year's ball drop!)

I have discovered that I do like to move into the new year thinking about what is, or what could be upcoming in my life, both personally and professionally. Although I don't hard copy produce a list of New Year's resolutions at the beginning of January, I am considering what types of things might make a list. Instead, I prefer to make my focused resolutions list later in the Spring when I am more likely to keep them because the weather is changing and life starts to bloom outside. Spring is far more motivating for me, especially in the areas of health and fitness, than in the (still) grey and colder days in January. I can certainly say that I am not motivated to change certain things when it is cold outside, such as eating a large salad for a meal when I am preferring to eat a hot, comfort food type of meal, and sink my teeth into a bite of fresh bread. This is me, and after all these years I now know myself pretty well. So, let's be realistic, the gym, the pool, outdoor activities in the sunshine are more inclined to happen when the weather starts to improve. (Maybe you are more disciplined than me, good for you!)

As I sit here today, in the quiet and peacefulness of a grey and cloudy January morning, I am enjoying my writing, and thinking about what lies ahead for me in 2025, and I love that I am doing it while enjoying my quiet room all calm and white with my New Year's tree!

I wish you all much happiness and success in 2025 in whatever life offers you! And...may you take the time to deliberately and happily decide what your next year will look like...

Cheers! Lise