December 29th 2018

The second video in the “Making New Year’s Resolutions 2018” Series is all about January 1st! What are your plans? To be honest, January was always a bit of a blurry month for me… until a few years ago, when everything changed.

Happy New Year everyone!

Today I’m talking about January 1st of every single year but in particular, 2018. So January 1st for so many years of my life has always been a blur, a forgettable… just not even remembered what happened on January 1st. But a few years ago, it would’ve been maybe three years ago, maybe four years ago, we had some interstate visitors that were planning to come to Melbourne and they said let’s catch up. And the only time we could arrange was brunch on January 1st which seemed like a crazy, ridiculous idea because who’s awake for brunch on January 1st? Certainly not me, but anyway we did it because we really wanted to see these guys.

On New Year’s Eve we were very mindful of not having a big night and going to bed late, too late, like we wanted to get there in time. We were just really worried that we were not going to wake up in time and get there. We had to get all the way into the city which is about a half an hour drive.

We had a decent night. It was quiet. It was lovely. We went to bed maybe 12:00, 12:30. It was a fairly early night considering. And we got up the next day and kind of clumsily got up the next day because what’s been programmed into me certainly is that January 1st is a write-off day, like you just stumble your way through it. But we got up and we got dressed and looked decent and found our way into the city.

I expected the city to be asleep, like I thought there would be some people stumbling home drunk and that’s all we would see. But I was so shocked. It was bustling. There was… It wasn’t crowded, it wasn’t packed, but it was just… there were a lot of people there. We were near Crown Casino, and so were along the Yarra River in Melbourne City and we were meeting them for brunch in the heart of the city basically.

I thought everyone would be asleep but no, there was so many people there and there were lots of tourists and it was really alive and happening and very joyful, and plus it was a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne and it was just so gorgeous. It was so gorgeous.

We met up with our friends and we had the most beautiful brunch. It was at a lovely place. I also thought that everything was closed on January 1st but not in the city. That was something I learned. Had an amazing, gorgeous brunch, caught up with our friends, and by… so it was about 10 o’clock we met up with them, so by 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon, 1:30 we were done, we were finished. We had breakfast or brunch and we went for a walk and then we kind of just, you know, it was the end of the visit and so at about 1:30 we made our way home.

We were home at 2 o’clock on January 1st, awake, wide awake, thinking what do we do? What do we do now? And so we just made the most of the day. We went and did a few other things. I think we also went for a walk, just the two of us, and maybe watched a movie by the end of the night. And it was such a full day and it impacted me so much because that year January was full.

That sounds bizarre, but the previous years… this is why it impacted me… the previous years the first few days in the New Year were just sleeping in, we were on holidays, sleeping in, stumbling out of bed, having lunch instead of breakfast and then just recovering and stumbling our way through the first few days.

I would always joke and say, you know, in the end of the year I would see December coming and then suddenly I just see January going. So December-January, December being the bustle and the rush and the mayhem and the manic month that it is would just fly and then January would just be a stumbling block where maybe mid-Jan, end of Jan I feel like I’m getting my feet into the new year but it’s still very new and fresh and novel, and so I’d really start the year around February. And so, I would joke that I would see December coming and then I would see January going and those two months were just a write-off.

The first year that changed was this year where we had brunch with our friends on January 1st and that whole month, every single day… We woke up early the next day, on the 2nd of January, the 3rd of January. That whole first week was full of activity and full days. And it changed the year. It really changed the year.

I didn’t feel like I was chasing my tail that year. I felt like the year didn’t fly. It was very present. It was full of stuff. It didn’t feel rushed. It didn’t feel like oh my gosh, it’s already June and how can it be June? This year’s flown. That rhetoric just didn’t happen that year. And so I’m very mindful to do it deliberately again this year. Last year I think we just fell off the wagon a bit and so 2017 didn’t feel very fast, it felt like it just zoomed by.

I just wanted to share with you that this year, or 2018, January 1st, I’m going to book something, I don’t know what it is, but it needs to be something that can’t be cancelled, there’s like other people… there’s accountability, people are going to be waiting for you at the other end of it or you’ve spent money on something, maybe you’re going to Gold Class movies, or something that you don’t want to waste and so you have to get there and there’s a time. There’s a time that it’s designated for. So I’m going to book something in on January 1st and make the most of that first day of the year and kind of hit the ground running, like get my feet wet day one and then let the year unfold from there.

If you feel inclined to join me, please do. It really changed everything for me when it happened a few years ago. It made me really appreciate the New Year. It didn’t feel like it was a blur, like I was stumbling into the New Year. I felt like I was really present for the New Year, like I experienced the first day of the year and the second day of the year and first week of the year. I experienced it. I had a lot of good times and deliberate experiences and it was fantastic.

Now I think people out there, I’m assuming people with children out there already know this secret because you’re awake always… early. Sleep-ins don’t happen I’ve been told when you’re a parent. So I think there are people out there that already know this secret but I’m new to it, and I think it’s a really well-kept secret. And so it’s nice to be in on it, in on that kind of side of life where people are enjoying the 1st of January, the first day of the year, and also you have all the time and the relaxation to really enjoy it and to be mindful about the way you spend the first week of the year. You’re not tired, you’re not hung-over, you’re not kind of stumbling your way through the first few days. You’re really present and see that first week and that first month as a gift.

So, join me on January 1st and book something in around… let’s not be crazy, let’s not do too early, let’s not do 6, 7 o’clock. Let’s maybe do 10, 11, 12 o’clock in the day where you’ve got to be dressed and awake and out in nature, somewhere in life, and meeting the year, greeting it with a hey, hands wide open, I’m here, let’s go, let’s do this thing, let’s have an adventure and be diving deep from day one.

Sharanya

xx