A Year Can Change Everything

A year ago, I was still deep in recovery, and January felt impossibly long and overwhelmingly dark. February and March weren’t much kinder. I’ve always experienced a touch of melancholy after Christmas and New Year, but last winter the lowness took on a new intensity. Even as the year unfolded and I slowly found my way back to myself, a part of me still carried anxiety about whether this January would bring the same weight.

For those of you who know my story, you’ll know that therapy and medication have been a vital part of my healing, for which I am so grateful for. It is also a delight to be able to say that this January in comparison has been joyful. My days have been full and structured, with purpose woven into the small rituals that make up my everyday. Even with the occasional bitter temperatures, we escaped the deep snowfalls of last year. A new heating system and a well-stocked pile of logs have also made an enormous difference and I have discovered that it is the small things that are so deeply comforting.

It has also been a season of celebrations. My youngest step-child turned twenty-one this month. My wonderful husband reaches a new decade in February, and my eldest step-child turns thirty in March. And nestled alongside all of this joy is something I still can’t quite believe: my book "Living Well: Finding Simplicty After The Storm" will be launched at The London Book Fair (Olympia) in March, with a local Sheffield launch shortly after. By the time all of these milestones have passed, the clocks will be springing forward and the first signs of the new season will be arriving. There is so much to look forward to — so much light, growth, and renewal ahead.

If last year taught me anything, it’s that change truly is possible. Even in midlife. Even after the hardest winters, Spring always comes.