January 12, 2026
Before I write anything else, I want to anchor this moment to a couple of earlier reflections that live nearby in spirit.
Both sit in that same thin space where a calendar flips but the soul hasn’t caught up yet.
Now we can begin.
January has a way of exposing us.
December carries us on borrowed energy. Lights. Sugar. Music. Noise. Even grief feels wrapped in ceremony. There is permission in December to feel too much or not enough. Everything is expected.
January shows up and quietly removes the scaffolding.
No soundtrack. No script. Just you, the calendar, and whatever didn’t magically resolve itself because a year changed.
That is where today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day live.
Thought of the Day
“Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.”
Basil King
I have always liked this quote because it does not promise comfort.
It does not say things will be easy, or clean, or affirming. It does not say you will feel ready. It says go at it boldly. Move. Act. Step forward anyway.
January is a terrible month for false confidence. It strips you of momentum. It reminds you how tired you actually are. The boldness Basil King is talking about does not look like a hype speech or a vision board.
Sometimes boldness in January looks like getting out of bed without enthusiasm. Answering the email you’ve been avoiding. Taking a walk even though the sky looks like a used paper towel.
What I notice, when I am paying attention, is that the “unexpected forces” rarely arrive as dramatic interventions. They show up quietly.
A conversation that steadies you. A thought that loosens its grip. A small moment where you realize you are not as alone as your internal monologue suggested.
January does not reward bravado. It responds to honesty.
The kind of boldness that works here is the kind that admits, “I don’t feel great, but I’m still here.”
And somehow, often without warning, something meets you there.
Not fireworks. Not clarity. Just enough help to keep going.
That is aid. That counts.
Question of the Day
What does January smell like?
I love this question because it bypasses the intellect and goes straight for memory.
We all know what December smells like. Peppermint. Pine. Sugar. Heat trying to hold off the cold.
November has its own identity. Pumpkin spice. Roasted turkey. Warm kitchens pretending winter is still optional.
October smells like fireplaces and leaves surrendering.
January is different.
To me, January smells like leftovers and disappointment.
Not in a dramatic way. In a quiet, refrigerator light kind of way.
It smells like containers you forgot about. Like coffee reheated once too often. Like cold air that has no interest in romance. Like yesterday’s optimism wearing the same clothes again.
But here is the thing I am learning.
Smell is not judgment. It is information.
Leftovers mean something existed before this moment. Disappointment means expectation was present. You hoped. You anticipated. You wanted something to land differently.
January gets a bad reputation because it refuses to perform. It will not distract you from what is unfinished.
That can feel cruel if you are looking for relief.
It can feel honest if you are looking for truth.
What does January smell like for you?
Maybe it smells clean. Maybe it smells like snow. Maybe it smells like nothing at all, which is its own kind of answer.
Smell is intimate. It is personal. It bypasses explanation.
And sometimes the fastest way to understand where you are is not to ask how you feel, but to ask what the air around you carries.
If you sit with that question long enough, it usually leads you somewhere real.
Not hopeful. Not despairing. Just real.
And real is a solid place to stand.
If reflections like this are something you want to sit with more regularly, I share a Thought of the Day and a Question of the Day by email as well. It is quiet, daily, and meant to be read when there is a moment. You can join the daily email here.
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