The In-Between Days

There’s something about the days between Christmas and New Year’s that always feels… complicated.

On one hand, they invite rest. Slow mornings. Lingering coffee. Pajamas that don’t apologize. The calendar loosens its grip and for a brief moment, we’re allowed to exhale.

And yet—There’s this quiet pressure humming underneath it all.

A sense that we should be doing something.

Social media doesn’t help. It never does. Suddenly everyone is cleaning out closets, reinventing their routines, eating “better,” setting goals, hosting picture-perfect gatherings, or announcing bold plans for the year ahead.

And even when we don’t mean to compare, we do. We scroll. We absorb. We feel behind.

I’ve learned that this is the season where “rest” can feel oddly unproductive—and productivity can feel like failure if you’re not doing it right.

This year, I’m trying something different.

I’m letting myself just be.

Not fixing. Not optimizing. Not rushing to reinvent. Just sitting with what this year actually gave me.

The lessons. The growth. The moments that stretched me. The ones that softened me.

I’m choosing to celebrate progress instead of picking apart what didn’t happen. To notice how far I’ve come instead of racing toward what’s next.

And here’s the funny thing—when I stop searching for creativity, it finds me.

It shows up when I’m reflecting, not forcing. When I’m grounded in gratitude, not comparison. When I allow excitement for what’s ahead to build slowly, honestly.

Looking forward doesn’t have to mean hustling toward the future. Sometimes it simply means honoring the present.

So if these in-between days feel tender or heavy or strangely uncomfortable—you’re not alone. They’re meant to be a pause. A breath. A quiet bridge between who you were and who you’re becoming.

Creativity will return. Clarity will come. The next chapter will reveal itself—right on time.

Until then, it’s enough to rest. It’s enough to reflect. It’s enough to simply be.

You are enough.

Carla