My Way of Living + Story

January Joy

It might be how bare the house looked as I placed the last glittering glass ball into it’s box for another year. Or it could be that the days following the bright lights of the Christmas season really do stretch on forever.

Snow covered bush with berries

It could be called a seemingly never ending blur until springtime. The days can feel empty, forlorn, dark, dreary. If we let them. Up here our winter is fully invested in it’s seasonal onslaught, it’s not fooling around. The weather version of “giving it 110%.” The white stuff is falling as if water squeezed from a loaded sponge. Piling up in big drifts, billowing. Snow blowers, and shovels are no match for the falling white stuff today. All of the features in the landscape are one big downy puffed up coating. Freezing cold temperatures, icicles, snow covered roads. Not much to inspire even the hardiest of souls in winter is there? “This the time to reflect, look around, and dig deep for creative inspiration. “ It can be dark out, miserable, wet, snowing, depending on where you live. I’ve been watching for the light, and those oh so rare, sunny days. We get only a few brief shining hours.

Red barn in snow

They show up once in a while if nature is feeling generous. Then it’s time to grab the camera, bundle up, venture out into a very cold day, freezing fingers, red nose. But the feeling of coming back into the house, camera card loaded with shots, is one of euphoria. There winter, take that! January Joy is mine! Find more wintery shots on my Instagram feed, link on my sidebar. Feel free to tag your wintery shots #JanuaryJoy so we can all see them. JANUARY!!! Maligned, detested, sad little month, no holidays, bills come in, it’s dark, and gloomy, it’s easy to come up with reasons we don’t love it. Some people break their resolutions, and have to start their fitness programs, vowing to lose weight… not us of course. But… What if we learned to love the month of January? Just for the fun of it, I’m challenging all of us to come up with a few reasons to love January, and I will include them in Wednesday’s post. Are you up for it? Get creative. Here’s my first reason. 1. You feel virtuous about going for a walk, after all, it’s really cold out there, and you definitely deserved that second piece of cheesecake for venturing outside. If you liked this post please share by clicking on the share buttons below. Thanks!

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January Joy + Story