January Blues? Reset, re-charge into a gloriously empty, wonderfully wide-open new year

I’ve always liked the month of January, and not just because it contains my birthday. It’s the equivalent of opening a new diary for the first time and flicking through pages just waiting to be filled up, or even left blank. I’ve never bought into that ‘new year, new start, new you’ nonsense. Whatever troubled or ailed you last year doesn’t magically disappear the second December 31 falls from the calendar.

But it is a time to pause and enjoy the, well, nothingness.

We all live busy lives and so many conversations revolve around how time is going faster. It isn’t.

But what has changed is the speeding up of each season which taps into the feeling we are all being driven faster and to do more.

We all see the ads punting sunshine holidays which are now dominating the schedules this month, and, by the end of January, the shops will be beginning the countdown to Easter - spotted any Creme Eggs yet? - while also trying to flog you a barbecue for summer parties. Valentine’s Day trowels on another layer of pressure to get you to fork out on flowers, a padded oversized card too big to sit on above anyone’s fireplace, and a meal; all hiked in price by businesses which see pound signs rather than red hearts.

Zip forward to autumn and Hallowe’en isn’t even over before Christmas muscles in and there is a mass outbreak of tinsel-itis as the shelves are filled with the same stuff once more. I recall BhS in the High Street flogged the same tat every year - same packaging dusted off, same spot right at the door. Presents devoid of thought or originality.

We’re all stuck in the world of ultra consumerism. That’s why supermarkets launched 24/7 shopping - not because we woke suddenly at 3:00am and thought “dang, I meant to get milk and tomorrow’s tea” but to maximise profits.

Factor in 24/7 television across multiple channels which replaced the days of the test card and dull men in beige cardigans delivering Open University lectures, and social media platforms which never stop, and the sense of time going faster simply accelerates. We’re all stuck on this hamster wheel, going faster and faster to avoid the fear of standing still - but what’s wrong with just stopping and taking stock?

January, complete with its mythical blues, is as good as time as any before the year comes in like a hurricane and says “right, enough of this loitering, get busy!” and it all starts again.

Maybe it’s an age thing. I’ll be 61 this month and moving ever closer to the time when work becomes a thing of the past; another landmark in life, but one that holds no fears whatsoever.

After 44 deadline-driven years, the prospect of a week without one holds huge appeal. My two typing fingers are pretty much worn down to the bone and one is arthritically bent out of shape. The comedian Jason Byrne insists men get handed a bag of words and, once used, they run out of anything useful to say. I reckon I must be down to my last few consonants and vowels. Maybe I should use them sparingly in this gloriously empty, wonderfully wide-open new year …