There is a lot of pressure that gets put on January to be a habit-forming month: the gym, salads, or (my yearly bright-eyed vow) regular flossing. Renewing my other annual promise to myself—to read 100 books—isn’t something that can be accomplished solely in January, but something about this month gives the same urgency and energy to that vow as it does my briefly-zealous willingness to shove a small string between my teeth every night. What I do in January, the month’s cultural mythos promises, is what I will do all year, and so I had better get off on the right foot. And so last year I read 15 books in January, and the year before I read 18 books in January, and this year—
January: flossing, and other habits
January: flossing, and other habits
January: flossing, and other habits
There is a lot of pressure that gets put on January to be a habit-forming month: the gym, salads, or (my yearly bright-eyed vow) regular flossing. Renewing my other annual promise to myself—to read 100 books—isn’t something that can be accomplished solely in January, but something about this month gives the same urgency and energy to that vow as it does my briefly-zealous willingness to shove a small string between my teeth every night. What I do in January, the month’s cultural mythos promises, is what I will do all year, and so I had better get off on the right foot. And so last year I read 15 books in January, and the year before I read 18 books in January, and this year—