little joys and little sorrows #21

reflecting on january: how centring joy makes such a difference, building snowmen, library trips, a month in solitude, starting the year off on a bad book

hello quiet readers,

for the first time in years, january hasn’t felt like it went on forever. last year, i remember discussing with my colleagues in the office that january felt like it was eight weeks long. but this year, i have been so wrapped up in writing (and finishing!) my first short story, writing and brainstorming this newsletter for you, jumping headfirst into my hobbies, that i have barely noticed the sky change. we still have a couple of days left, but next sunday, when i see you again, it will be february, and before we know it, we’ll be out of the darkness and feeling the hot embrace of the sun once more. i cannot wait.

i’m thinking about how strange it is that january felt so long last year, even though i had a full-time job that was increasingly becoming more stressful. when we’re busy, time seems to speed past us like a blue tit jumping from garden to garden, and yet, it dragged on. but this year, i have been kept probably even more busy, and the month didn’t feel as long. what a difference it makes, being busy on our own terms, filling our time with things that bring us joy instead of dread and misery. i’ve loved spending full days at my desk, writing and creating, in comparison to full days at a desk in my old job as a copywriter. i’m learning the same lesson over and over again: we must centre joy as much as we can.

anyway, let’s get into the lists.

little joys

• since my partner and i moved in october, we haven’t had a chance to enjoy our garden, but it snowed the other week, so much so that we were able to make a snowman. i’m sure our neighbours thought we were being silly or much too old for this but it’s one of my favourite moments from this month so idc

• the snow was also beautiful in itself, i loved watching chunky snowflakes fall from the sky

• all the books i’ve read so far this year have been from the library and i think that’s very nice

• sunrises have been lovely this month

• still feeling grateful for this new home of ours and how much i love our office (or sun room as we like to call it). i feel like a little hobbit in its sacred cave, busy writing stories and putting stickers on everything

• baking is starting to feel less intimidating and i made banana bread that turned out really well. up next: apple strudel!

• blue skies in january are a blessing, it’s cold, but the lack of grey is refreshing

• spent a morning at the library journaling, annotating welcome to the hyunam-dong bookshop (working on an essay about this) and drafting a newsletter. the sky was blue, the sun was out and i bagged a coveted window seat. that was a good day

• i’ve been keeping up with my daily trackers! unheard of for me. i use this diary to write a sentence or two about my day and track my mood and sleep in a graph and check off whether i wrote, worked out, read, etc. that day or not. it’s such a grounding practice and i’m proud of myself for keeping up with it every day

(if you’re enjoying this intimate post, things are getting more personal in the paid tier. consider upgrading your subscription for a look into exactly how i’m making room for joy and a little more quiet. enjoy the quiet notes from my journal series and the quiet list filled with lots of romanticised lists every season (winter instalment coming next week!) thank you for your support of finding quiet <3)

little sorrows

• i started the year on the wrong book. sorry to say that the book of goose by yiyun lee did not land well with me. it just felt a little bland and i didn’t care much for the characters

• it’s been a solitary month, i haven’t really noticed this much but i should probably take a trip to london soon and remind my friends what i look like

• unfortunately the snowman only lived a short life before falling down to his demise about four minutes after creation (pictured below)

• is the new thing about job searching just not getting any replies at all? are we not even doing generic rejections anymore?

---

thank you for reading this week’s post! as i mentioned, next week will be the winter instalment of the quiet list, which paid subscribers get full access to. i’ve also been working on a little companion to go with it that i hope you’ll enjoy. let’s just say, if you’re looking to go more analogue this year, you might be a fan…

i’m taking things back to basics with it, experimenting with the magazine format for the last one was fun, but i think i actually prefer the newsletter format (and this fun little thing on the side). thank you for being patient with me on this, sometimes it takes a few tries to see what sticks!

i hope you have a restful sunday. do something nice for yourself today.

i’ll see you next week <3