A could-do list for January
Let's slowly welcome in the New Year... with a bowl of pasta 🍝
Hi lovely, I’m Aimée, a soulful copywriter . Here, on my Substack, I share seasonal tales from my little corner of the Cotswolds. I write about food, heritage, books, travel, creative living, and whimsical musings. Come on in, take off your boots, and cosy up by the fire. I’ll pop the kettle on.
Remind yourself that you do not need to start anew.
Buy yourself fresh flowers every week. Put them in the hallway so they’re the first sight you see when you come home.
Don’t rush to make New Year’s resolutions on the first day. Let the month settle.
Sleep with the window open.
Keep a Commonplace book. (I don’t know about you, but sometimes listening to myself prattle on while I journal makes me sick of myself. A commonplace book is such a nice alternative to focusing on my whimsy and woes.)
Make marmalade while the oranges are ripe.
Go to a tea shop and pick out a new herbal tea to try.
Join the fancy, posh gym that costs a bomb if you want to.
Reflect: What are you grateful for? What did you achieve in 2024? What lit your soul on fire? What do you regret (because we all have those, despite what people say.) What do you want more of?
Read the Roman myth of Janus. Approach January with duality - one face turned towards the year just gone, the other on the year that lies ahead.
Carbs are your friend, especially in the long, cold stretches of January. So, take yourself out to a pasta restaurant (I love Solina in Bath) or make yourself a big deep bowl of it to eat in front of the TV).
Remind yourself that Champagne is acceptable to drink at any time of the year.
Begin spring cleaning early. Donate anything you don’t want.
Write a letter to the person who broke your heart / hurt you. Tell them you forgive them. Send it, if you like. Or don’t. It’s up to you.
Write a letter to yourself to read at the end of the year.
Challenge yourself to spend a certain amount of time outside each day. You need all the vitamin D you can get in this country.
On that note, don’t forget to take your actual vitamin D tablet.
Organise some lovely days out on the weekends to have something to look forward to.
Sign up for a National Theatre subscription and honker down on cold nights when the theatre feels too far away.
Challenge yourself to do something for a whole month if that feels good to you.
Choose a guiding-star word for the year.
Make a vision board. I like to a collage on Canva and use it as my phone
screensaver.Pour over seed catalogues with a good gardener’s brew to hand.
Go wassailing. Wassailing is a traditional celebration where folk gather to sing to the orchards and bless the trees so a good apple harvest ensues.
Skip the wassailing and just drink the cider.
Pick an author and dive into all their work over the coming twelve months.
Start the thing you’ve been meaning to. .
Plan to cook at least two plant-based meals each week.
Host a Burns night supper complete with whiskey, Scottish folk music, and poetry recitals.
Book a trip for later on in the year. Something to hold onto, perhaps, when January feels endless.
I am 100% off to get a commonplace book!!! I literally have 1000’s of thoughts, quotes & things I love stored in my phone all begging to be written out & recorded in some kind of order. What a fab idea 🧡
Love this! What a great way to start a new year, especially when the weather likes to play games 😊. Sinking into the chair, clenching a freshly made cup of coffee while reading with anticipation what the next thing on the list will be 🥰