January gets its share of bad press. Between the weather and our resolutions, it is the month we feel we must get through, the month we must bear. Its days are short and either dreary and rainy, or gloomy and cold, or some other mix that you can count on to dampen your outside plans. Our beginning-of-the-year customs go hand in hand with its bleakness as we choose to make ourselves more cheerless by abstaining from things we enjoy, while pushing ourselves towards the more mundane and less exciting.
We force change upon ourselves “for our own good,” metamorphosing into harsh parents who are darn well going to reign things in after all the tomfoolery and freewheeling fun and extravagance that marked the last weeks of the previous year. Make a budget, go on a diet, get back to your work outs, clean out the pantry, organize your closet, save money, eat in and do better with your sleep hygiene. There shall be no more merriment, and in the words of Nat King Cole, it is time to straighten up and fly right.
