The only thing I love as much as putting the Christmas decorations out in December is tidying and packing them away in the last days of the month and the first days of January. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the sparkle and and glitz and general over-the-topness of the festive decorations and I always only just manage to make it to the first weekend in December before I break them out, but every year, by the time New Year's Day has rolled around I'm ready for some space, some calm, and some peace, both in my head and also around me in my home and surroundings. And while I wouldn't usually describe myself as a superstitious person, all of the decorations definitely need to be down and packed away by Twelfth Night.
Twelfth night falls on the fifth of January, but I usually start slowly removing bits and pieces some time after Boxing Day, starting off with the Christmas cards, all gathered together for recycling. Then room by room, I collect the odd decorations around the house, on window sills and mantlepieces and wrap them carefully for next year. Every day I clear a little more, checking each room. I get really serious after New Year's Day. All of the tree decorations come off and get packed away safely, leaving just the lights, so I get to enjoy a bare but twinkly tree for a night or two which is beautiful in its simplicity. Eventually I'm left with just the greenery.
With the decorations carefully wrapped, packed and tucked away it's time to clean the house from top to toe. I love cleaning. I've slowly come to realise not everyone feels this way from some of the reactions I get when I tell people, but it makes me happy! My New Year's clean is a real ritual to start off the next twelve months in the right way - a labour of love for my home and possessions. Starting off at the top of the house I work my way down room by room cleaning and decluttering until I reach the front door. It's always felt like the right way to start the year, with a clean house which holds possessions that I've thought about, that I use and that I really love. It feels freeing to be unencumbered by a mass of things that are bringing nothing useful to my life or my goals.
I love the calm and peace that descends on the house once the decorations have been packed away, the cleaning finished and my attention can turn to focussing on the year ahead. I've cleared the decks and I can prepare for action in the year to come. I'm not a great one for making specific resolutions, but I do like to think about what direction I want to follow in the months ahead and any steps that I can take to grow and to move further towards my goals. This January I'm still planning with a healthy dose of flexibility and reminding myself that often what we can achieve is influenced as much by outside circumstances as it is by our own actions and that that's okay.
I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year and success with your own plans and goals.
Nikki
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