When You're Just Not Feeling It

Happy 2025! Whether you’re bounding into the new year with lots of goal-setting, new planner, “New Year New You” energy, or like me, you’re dragging yourself back kicking and screaming from a relaxing holiday break, I hope you find something inspiring in the words ahead.

Every couple years, I fall prey to a dangerous syndrome which somehow convinces me that what I really need to do in life is do a total career pivot and open a bookshop. Has this ever happened to you? Maybe in your version it’s a coffee shop or a bakery, but the main components are an intense excitement about a job you have zero experience with but just sounds so darn cozy and perfect that it’s guaranteed to make you blissfully happy.

For me, this malady was brought on when I started reading First Impressions by Charlie Lovett between Christmas and New Year’s. (Please don’t start reading it if you are also prone to this syndrome.) Basically any book where the protagonist works in a bookshop (especially in London or the English countryside) is liable to get me spiraling toward my doom.

One night I stayed up late reading and by the time I went to bed I had convinced myself that I could really make this work. I was flying high on excitement as I mentally drafted the business plan for my bookstore before I drifted off into dreamland.

The next morning reality began to dawn on me, and my euphoria came crashing down in pieces as I admitted to myself that 1) running a retail business goes against everything I value in my work and 2) there is literally no way I could make one penny of profit by opening a bookshop.

I begrudgingly realized that the reason I love to daydream about these things is because it’s so much easier to start something new and fresh and exciting than it is to keep moving forward with what you’re already doing. 

I share this because maybe you’re having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after the holiday break, and maybe you feel a bit like throwing in the towel and doing something totally different with your life.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dreaming about opening a bookshop, and there’s nothing wrong with you if you’re not bursting with energy as you try to get yourself motivated about teaching again.

I’ve been trying to ease myself back gently this week by not asking too much of myself. If I’m not super excited about my work right now, this is not the time to be brainstorming and making big plans. It’s the time for doing the work I know I need to do and just thinking a bit about what might spark a bit more joy in the year ahead. 

I’m not charting anything out yet. (Who says that has to happen the first few weeks of January?) But I am reflecting on what aspects of my work bring the most joy, and how I might be able to focus a bit more of my time and energy on those things.

I’ve been following the sweetest Facebook/Instagram account called India Rose Crawford and she had a beautiful post that feels so fitting as we start out the new year. (There is a lovely video that this photo is taken from.. I highly recommend you add a little joy to your life by watching it, plus a few more chronicling Frog’s daily activities.)

I agree 100%. Be patient and gentle with yourself if you’re just not feeling it, and maybe let yourself dream about opening your own bookshop, or be inspired by watching a few videos starring a knitted frog.

And if you need a teeny tiny pep talk about your first days back with students, let me recommend the latest (January 1) episode of the Everything EFL podcast with Erin O’Byrne. I love her simple ideas for coping with the first few classes after break and going easy on both your students and yourself (spoiler alert: yes, they HAVE forgotten everything.)

Happy New Year, and happy dreaming!

Bethany