The Weird Week Between Xmas & New Year: An ode.

The Weird Week Between Christmas and New Year: An Ode 

Oh, the nameless week.

The one in which time expands, leftovers multiply and the days become one continuous, “What day is it?” Is it Tuesday? Saturday? Who knows? For seven strange, hazy days, the world seems to be operating in a slight fog. 

There’s something quietly lovely about this time — a passage that creeps in between the panic of Christmas and the buzz of New Year. A chance to hit pause, step off the treadmill and simply be. It’s the week when 2 p.m. naps seem entirely defensible, chocolate for breakfast is no big deal, and “real clothes” are nowhere to be found. Slow, a little messy, and completely brilliant. 

A Time for Doing Nothing 

The beautiful thing I discovered about this week is how pointless it is. You’re not expected to do anything spectacular. The world is too busy chewing through leftovers to notice. So, why not lean into it? Leave the to-do list alone. Allow the dishes to pile up a bit longer. You could flop on the sofa and just stay there. This is your permission to set aside the expectation that you will be productive, to be okay with sinking into the still without feeling that you have to “do” something with it. 

This is a time to start a quiet rebellion against the busyness. For staring out the window. For snuggling under a blanket and letting the hours simply roll by. 

Or, If You’re Not Into Stillness… 

Be Reflective If sitting still is too uncomfortable, this week can still be an opportunity to reflect. Not in a “New Year, New Me” sort of way — no need for grand proclamations or resolutions. Just a brief look back at the year that was.

Consider the moments that made you smile — the small ones, the surprising ones, the ones that gave you a laugh.

What about the hard stuff? The burdens you’ve borne that perhaps you don’t need to carry anymore. Is this week the beginning of getting some of it down? 

A Week That Belongs to You 

This week often seems like stolen time. We have just managed the marathon of Christmas — organizing, cooking, cleaning, gifting — and it’s so easy for these days to slide directly into planning, what’s next? But perhaps this week isn’t for everyone else. Maybe it’s for you.

It is an opportunity to notice the little wins that you typically overlook. To create little pockets of time that belong to you alone — a walk by yourself, a hot bath, five minutes’ quiet in the car after a run to the supermarket. It’s for reminding yourself what you really need. Rest? Reflection? Chocolate? All of it?

The Gift of the In-Between 

This strange little week feels like a pause in life. A moment of quiet before the world gets going again. And therein lies its gift — it makes no demands of you. You can fill it — or not — however you see fit. So, here’s to the offbeat week. The days that hover. Time that wanders, inexplicably, its own way. Here’s to the snoozing, the periods of reflection and the slack periods.

Here’s to the week when we realise that some weeks the most we can do — or that is needed from us — is just to be, to do nothing.

Author, Kim Palmer - Founder Clementine. Please join me for our annual ‘Setting Intentions Evening’ where you can carve out some quality time to reflecting on 2024 - what worked, what didn’t and work out your vibe for 2025. No unrealistic goals. Intentions that work with you not against you.