I’m Not Carrying This Pressure Into the New Year

There’s something about mid-December that always sneaks up on me.

The lights are up. The coffee is cold (again). There are lists everywhere. And even though I know this season is supposed to feel warm and meaningful, there’s this quiet pressure humming underneath it all.

Be more festive.
Do more.
Finish strong.
End the year right.

And honestly?
I’m tired.

Not the dramatic, burnt-out kind of tired.
The softer kind.
The kind that just wants to sit at the table with paint on her hands, music playing low, and nowhere else she needs to be.

So this year, before January even shows up knocking at the door, I’m making a decision:

I’m not carrying this pressure with me.

Here’s what I’m quietly leaving behind

I’m letting go of expectations that never really belonged to me in the first place.
The unspoken ones. The “shoulds.” The imaginary scoreboard I didn’t even agree to play on.

I’m done with comparison fatigue — scrolling past other people’s perfectly wrapped, perfectly scheduled, perfectly productive lives and wondering why mine feels messier. It is messier. It’s also real. And I’m choosing real.

I’m setting down productivity guilt.
That voice that says rest has to be earned.
That creativity only counts if it becomes something useful, sellable, or shareable.

Some things are allowed to exist simply because they bring peace.

And maybe the biggest one of all…
I’m letting go of the idea that January has to arrive with a grand plan, a full reset, or a brand-new version of me.

Simple is my New Abundance

Where I put things down instead of picking them up

For me, creativity has always been the place where I exhale.

Not where I push.
Not where I prove.
Not where I perform.

It’s where I sit at my table, shuffle paper, pick colors without overthinking, paint a little, glue a little, make something imperfect and mine.

Creativity is where I go to put things down —
the noise, the pressure, the need to have it all figured out.

And that’s exactly the energy I want to carry into the new year.

Not hustle.
Not urgency.
Just space.

You can get my FREE Tracer here:

Grinchmas Tracer

 

Arriving in January a little lighter

I don’t want January to feel like a starting gun.

I want it to feel like a quiet room with good light.
A clean page.
A deep breath.

That’s the heart behind Creative Simple Joys, the gentle program I’m opening in January.

It’s not about doing more.
It’s about doing less, on purpose.

Because:
Creativity can be simple.
Joy can be simple.
Start small.

No pressure.
No catching up.
No “falling behind.”

Just small, meaningful creative moments that meet you right where you are — at your kitchen table, in your quiet corner, in the middle of a very real life.

So if you’ve been feeling the weight of this season…
If you’re tired of chasing things that don’t actually bring peace…
If you want to step into the new year lighter, softer, and more grounded…

This is your permission slip.

DOWNLOAD HERE

 

You don’t have to resolve anything right now.
You’re allowed to release.

January will meet you exactly as you are.

And we’ll start small — together.

-teresa XO