January blues was not as bad as I was expecting. Looking back at my daily gratitudes and musings, it appears I had very much utilised my support network this month. It has been super helpful having supportive people in my life that I can rely on and ask for help, people who can lift me up in a single conversation, and people who have the time to have those conversations with me. People who just understand me.

I have also been writing and journaling more this month too, which might have reduced the January blues. Also I’m in a new work environment, where things are still new and fresh, which has given a little excitement into my working days. I suppose I might be a little distracted by work so haven’t really focussed on the more difficult aspects of a usual cold and dark winter.

I’ve stopped reading the news too, and have stopped focussing on negative things or thoughts. I think I’ve become more self-aware recently and have actively filtered out potentially triggering news articles or Instagram accounts etc, and only allow the positive things in. I’ve been currently at this point where I can state something is bad or state that I disagree with something, but can pause, and then not linger on it and not let it consume me or put me in a rage.

Maybe, in a way, this is me being more mindful and present. Just acknowledging something, be it a feeling or a thought, and then not actually feel it or think about it for too long. Whatever it is, it has made my January a little more peaceful than I anticipated. So, here is my January gratitude journal:

1 Time: grateful for time today. Time to sleep in and rest, time to nap and doze, time to chill and relax and watch films. Time to sit and be and not worry.

2 Home: grateful for the tiny home we have today. Though our neighbours can get annoyingly loud, simply cleaning the kitchen and cooking food today, I’m grateful for this little cosy space.

3 Painting: grateful for painting today. Always lovely seeing the results of a couple of hours of crafty work. Grateful for the sense of accomplishment and also grateful for seeing the beautiful colours coming alive.

4 Music: grateful for music today, helping me concentrate. Time flew by today as I was in a flow state, listening away.

5 The cloud: grateful for the cloud today, having a look at old electronic things I’ve saved over the years, quite handy really. Who knows when my laptop will see its last days.

6 A few things today. Grateful for the hubby helping me sort out some life admin and heavy lifting! Grateful for supermarkets staying open and having services to return packages. Grateful for my new company sending over many things to help with my work set up. Grateful for friends, for both giving advice and asking for advice – grateful for an awesome network out there who are super supportive.

7 Writing: grateful for writing today. Journaling, drafting a few blog posts, and writing down some thoughts. I’ve forgotten quite how therapeutic it is to get it all out of my head and onto paper.

8 A couple of things today. Grateful for a lie in, catching up on some extra snooze times, recuperating. Also grateful for legs, as my legs have been aching and I’m looking forward to them calming down tomorrow, grateful for my legs carrying me usually.

9 Winter clean: grateful for doing a winter clean today and finding some things I had completely forgotten about. Went through cupboards and wardrobes, a complete Marie Kondo of everything and grateful for all that I have. It was cathartic going through everything and reminiscing about previous days.

10 Rest: grateful for rest today. Had a lie in, a very chilled day, a Sunday self care day I suppose. Grateful to not be rushed today and just be.

11 Technology: grateful for technology today. Had a fair few set backs and issues but they appear to be resolved and working fine, I’m grateful for the help and support today to get me through.

12 Conversations: grateful for conversations. Had lots of meetings and conversations today, and one long conversation just chatting away, it was lovely. Some people you just vibe at the same frequency and know you can trust them, and it was great learning that today. Other conversations were catching up, giving and receiving advice. I’m grateful to have such a strong network of people supporting me.

13 Colleagues: grateful for colleagues today; showing me patience, helping me, and going through things. Very calm and nurturing environment, which I respond well to and greatly appreciate.

14 Perspective: grateful for a different perspective today. Learning new things and hearing viewpoints from places where I haven’t previously been exposed to. Grateful to be invited into these new spaces to listen and learn and provide some of my own fresh insight.

15 A few things today. Grateful for exercise in the morning, pumping me up ready for the day. Grateful for a lovely conversation with a colleague about work, career, diversity, and mentorship. Grateful for the film Instant Family, funny, heart warming, and a little emotional.

16 Productivity: grateful for productivity today. I had a list of things I wanted to get done today and I managed to check them all off my list. Grateful for these little wins and grateful for mustering the discipline to do it.

17 Creativity: grateful for creativity today. Did some painting whilst listening to an audio dramatisation and also did some writing too. Grateful to do some structured creativity and get the creative juices flowing.

18 Friends and work: grateful for friends today. Had a lovely catch up on the phone with a friend and ex colleague, discussing and comparing our recent experiences as we are both currently going through the same thing. Interesting hearing things from a different perspective. Also grateful for a couple of other friends, who are also ex colleagues, who have contacted me making sure I’m ok. Grateful to be in people’s thoughts on Blue Monday. Also grateful for work for giving everyone a gift card as it’s Blue Monday today, such a lovely gesture.

19 Exercise: grateful for exercise today. Moving about and getting some endorphins released this morning before work was really good. Feel as if my body is responding well to the extra movement and I didn’t overdo it so not expecting to ache tomorrow.

20 Progress: grateful for progress today, as things are kind of falling into place and making more sense. Grateful for the previous experience I’ve gained and how that is helping me currently.

21 The bigger picture: grateful to be able to see the bigger picture today. For months I have been trawling into the detail and lately, or this week even, I think something has shifted and I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful to be in a position to see the bigger picture and I feel it may not be me that has changed but the environment I’m in that is suiting me better.

22 Sun: grateful for the sun today. Last night was raining very heavily that it actually woke me up. So today, I was surprised and grateful to see the sun shining through the windows.

23 A couple of things today. Grateful for work, as they gave us a gift voucher for Blue Monday which I have redeemed. Grateful for a friend, we talked for almost 3 hours about life, work, and skin care amongst many other things; it was lovely catching up and just chatting.

24 Snow: grateful for snow today. There was a little sprinkling of snow and it looked so magical and wintry, I didn’t step outside, but it was lovely seeing the snow falling and start to settle. It was beautiful. And it was lovely to be present, watching the snow fall, and forget about the world for a little while.

25 Time: grateful for time today. Had a little lie in this morning, catching up on some snooze, which was nice. Also yesterday evening and this evening I felt I had more time to relax, as we didn’t watch TV, and switched off our electronics. Grateful for what seems like a little extra time to sleep and relax.

26 Memories: grateful for memories, reminiscing about past holidays and past adventures. Partly makes me a little sad thinking about not going on holiday, but also makes me a little happy that I’ve been fortunate to go on holiday in the past.

27 Electricity: grateful for electricity today. We experienced a little blip today where the power went out in part of the flat: the fridge, TV, the internet went down. It didn’t last long, and it happened in the middle of the day so it wasn’t dark, but I’m grateful that we have electricity.

28 Focus: grateful to be able to focus today. Managed to get some things done and cleared, thinking about how things can be improved and automated. Grateful to have this focus and drive to push me through, yet it doesn’t feel heavy or weighted on me to get it done.

29 Technology: grateful for technology today. Had a lovely virtual social this evening with colleagues, it was lovely, and wouldn’t have been possible without tech.

30 People: grateful for the people in my life. I had a couple of calls with friends and ex colleagues, catching up and chatting about random stuff. On one call it was lovely hearing about how the company is doing, about exercise, about TV and social media. On another call it was great just laughing about a fantasy firm that would allow us to live on a sunny island in the middle of nowhere. It was also great reminiscing with each other about our lives when we used to see each other most days in our old office. I miss these people and I’m grateful they’re still in my life even if we no longer work together or see each other every day. I’m grateful for the support, encouragement, and laughter they provide me. I’m grateful that I can just say things and they understand me, and vice versa, because we’ve been through similar issues or worked on similar jobs. I’m grateful these people lift me up and vibe at the same frequency as me.

31 Scrapbooks: grateful for my scrapbooks today. I spent some time going through and looking at all the memories and experiences I’ve had. I’m grateful I got to experience these and I’m grateful I scrap booked some of these too. It was nice looking through, going down memory lane, and remembering things that happened before. It’s nice having the memento as a reminder.