Gentle Continuation: A January Note from the Studio

What if we skipped the resolutions and just kept going?

Out with the “new year, new me.”
In with the same us, just slightly more awake.

Three weeks ago I wrote a small rant about end‑of‑year messaging. And then, right on cue, January arrived with its parade of shiny promises, fresh planners, detoxes and dramatic reinventions. New year, new you, new everything.

But honestly? I’m not buying it.

A new year is just a new year. You don’t suddenly become more capable or more behind. You’re simply still you, carrying everything you’ve already lived.

I’m not saying don’t reflect. I’m just gently suggesting we don’t assume everything needs to be overhauled.

Because whether last year felt triumphant, tender, exhausting, flat or quietly strange, you were still doing something important.

You have lived. You have learned. You have built a strange, beautiful collection of experiences that only you possess.

And when things change, because they always do, you will adapt. You will try something else. You don’t need the full plan yet. You just need to keep going. The plan will emerge when it needs to.

Choosing Gentle Continuation

So this year, instead of dramatic reinvention, I’m choosing gentle continuation.

Keep making.
Keep sending the newsletter.
Keep sharing the work, even when it feels quiet.
Keep trusting the small pull inside.

Not hustle. Not burnout. Just devotion.

Devotion to the studio, to the slow unfolding of ideas, to showing up again and again even when nothing feels particularly shiny or Instagram‑ready.

Because this is how the real work happens. Not in sudden breakthroughs, but in small, faithful steps. In returning to the table. In picking up the brush.

We don’t need a brand new self to make meaningful work. We just need to keep going.