thoughts on February

For the first 36 years of my life — or, at least for as long as I can recall having any specific feelings about a month —  I dreaded February. The excitement of the new year has passed. The initial allure I feel for winter is long gone and I’m left feeling, well, just cold. Spring is right around the corner — yet feels so far out of reach. Oh, and then there’s the worst — Valentine’s Day.

I relate February to how I feel about Tuesday: it’s just a way to progress through the week. Or, as one of my favorite Seinfeld lines go, “Tuesday has no feel.” I would interject that February has no feel. And, perhaps that was really the cause of the dread. No real milestones. Just a month to get us one step closer to spring.

February 2018 was different. Perhaps it was the weather and the sprinkling in of some mild days to break up the winter cold. Maybe it was the treat of a day off for President’s Day. Or, was it kicking off the month celebrating the birth of my favorite human?

While all of the above certainly played a role in a much improved February, I also attribute my change of heart to a shift in mindset. I approached the month as I normally do — with trepidation and low expectations — but somewhere during those 28 days I took a moment to pause and examine all of the goodness the month actually held: my five-year houseaversary, the two-year anniversary of Denver Creates, the aforementioned birthday of my love, annual performance reviews (yes, I look forward to these and, yes, I’m weird) and a mountain weekend away with a group of my favorite girlfriends.

When I break it down like that, it’s difficult to feel anything but gratitude for February. And, while the month still brings up the rear in the list of my favorite months, perhaps next year I won’t approach the sophomore month of the year with such negativity and instead just take it as it comes and see what unfolds.

Below are a few of my favorite February moments