12 Reasons Why February is Actually Awesome

im not kidding

I’m always worried about our cat’s oxygen levels in this setup with Arden but she seems to survive

If you’ve said (shouted?) to yourself, “I’m SO over winter,” I get you. My numb ears get you. My slightly pulled hamstring from when I almost wiped out on ice last week gets you.

And yet, if you’ve read Today Was Fun or followed this publication for a while, you’ll know I have an aversion to wishing away any day, any month, any season. Because when we wish away a season, we wish away our lives—and we only get so many winters.

So over the past week I’ve been musing on what, exactly, is worth savoring about February. And then I challenged myself… what mindset would I need to hold to actively want to hold on to February? This was Mission Impossible territory.

It always helps me to throw some existential dread into the equation, so that’s what I tried first. My mom died years ago and doesn’t get to enjoy this February. Our dog died last week and I’m devastated that Charlie doesn’t get to enjoy this February. So I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of it for both of them and all the other dead people an animals too. Want to join in my questionably morbid, endlessly hopeful quest? Please enjoy these reasons to love February, and in the comments add your own!

1. FEBRUARY IS AN INTROVERT’S DREAM

I’ve barely said yes to evening plans this winter. I have a chorus of tiny voices in my head telling me “you’ll never know who you’ll meet at the event and what opportunities might arise!” but one of my favorite things about my 40s has been getting really good at the rebuttal: “But I don’t want to.” When it’s dark out my inner bear just wants to be inside the cave. February, for me, is less about other people “forgiving” a declined invitation, but more about me feeling confident that a lot of staying in is what this season is for. Essentially:

2. THE AIR OFTEN FEELS GREAT

I remember moving to Washington DC in August years ago and realizing that my new look was going to be “sweaty.” Bangs stuck to my forehead. Flushed face. The drop of sweat you can feel running down your back. I’m not saying the brick air we have at the moment isn’t dehydrating and frankly rude. But if I’ve bundled up properly, it can also feel wildly invigorating. A cold plunge for your face! And not a mosquito in sight.

3. YOU CAN FEEL THE RUMBLINGS OF SPRING

New Years should absolutely not be January 1st. That’s lunacy. For thousands of years, in cultures across the world, New Years was aligned to the spring equinox. Tell me: WHAT BEAR IS PUTTING ON HIS FITNESS TRACKER IN JANUARY?! It’s like what… we toil all summer farming, reap the harvest in the fall, prepare for the deep freezes of winter, settle into the long, cold nights marked by the winter solstice on December 21st, and then just TEN DAYS into winter proper we’re jolted awake by some kind of masochistic societal alarm clock that tells us to start running, eating low carb, and seizing life anew? No.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a gentle, playful resolution but I’m saving the awakenings for the season when things are actually supposed to awaken. I’m finally now, in February, in a place to think about the shape of my portfolio life more proactively. I got a haircut and new jeans this week. I love feeling the seeds of a new beginning unfurling.

4. IT’S NEVER MORE GLORIOUS TO STEP INTO A SHOWER

I mean, come on. You’re cold in your bones and then you enter that waterfall of warmth… all chills and ecstasy! Who needs drugs.

5. YOU’VE GOT THE WHOLE YEAR TO MAKE THE NUMBERS

February is in that delightful little pocket of the year when you’re not racing to “make your numbers” in Q4 and you’re past the “strong start” of January. Sure, a lot of companies insist on monthly numbers to try to single out innocent little months like February and make them perform, but if you’re not in one of them, then enjoy this cozy closet-under-the-stairs of a month.

6. PEOPLE SOMEHOW SEEM UNUSUALLY KIND

This is a big thing to say as a New Yorker, since we are not known for our friendly nature. But just yesterday two strangers on the street insisted on showing me pictures of their dogs on their phones. Arden and I made friends with two pre-school teachers who were standing outside our corner deli. Even my email exchanges this week have been uncommonly personal, delightful, human. Are you all feeling this too?? I loved this piece from Adam Mastroianni on Underrated ways to change the world and it seems others are too. With news of murders in Minneapolis and the US if not the broader world in shambles, I think people are just like, “Well shit. If there’s nothing else I can do, I’m gonna be nice.”

Ok, so maybe this is less about February and more about the state of our collective psychology, but I think the sentiment remains: the colder it is out there, the more we have to bring the warmth ourselves.

7. IT’S TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE TO HAVE BAD HAIR

In the spring, if you show up to a meeting with bedhead you might get some looks. But in the winter? “Oh, they surely were just wearing a hat!” As someone who perpetually doesn’t know what to do with her hair, I’m into it.

8. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SUCK IN SHIT

JK. I’m actually not into sucking anything in any time of year, though if I’m wearing a fitted jumpsuit in the summer, I might stand up a little straighter and pull my shoulders back to approximate posture. But in February? It’s the season of the comfy slouch, the fetal position, the little spoon. Most zoom meetings I have a blanket or hot water bottle on my lap. I’m typing this now from bed because why not?

9. VALENTINES DAY CAN HAVE YOUR BACK IF YOU LET IT

I’ve always been amused by the selection of holidays we celebrate: a holiday where a man in a tophat asks a rodent if it’s sunny out; a holiday about death where you dress up like sexy healthcare workers. Kinda quirky! But somehow, I find holidays take care of us right when we need them most. Romance feeling lackluster amidst the slush and chill? BAM here’s your excuse to spice it up. Not partnered and not interested? Forget the romance, eat the chocolate. Are you tired of your introverted friends canceling all your plans? It’s a perfect excuse to give a little love to a family member or child in your life. Bonus holiday if you’re in the US: this Sunday it’s totally acceptable to have wings, nachos, chili, sliders, and onion dip in the same meal!

XKCD

10. THERE’S SOMETHING DELICIOUS ABOUT BEING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK

Do you ever finish a book and wish you were back swimming in the middle of the evolving plot? Or feel nostalgic for season four of a ten-season show you loved? It’s a sort of safety mixed with hope with a through line of comforting banality. I’ve been watching Outlander since its inception and I remember one scene when they were trying to explain a bunch of time passing and the voiceover went something like, “The days went on much the same, with Claire tending to the land and the people of the ridge…” I love the action scenes, but something about that description made me just want to watch her like… roast some vegetables, fix a doorknob, mend a scrape. That glorious “stuff of life.” Well February is prime “stuff of life” season. It’s just us, hanging out in the deleted scenes. It’s not glamorous, but it is lifey, and that can be beautiful too.

Brad and Arden trying the “make ice cream in the snow” trend. Kinda worked?

11. TRY TO BEAT WAKING UP ON A SATURDAY MORNING TO CHILLY AIR IN A WARM BED

It’s why half of NYC opens their windows in the winter because a lot of buildings’ heating is controlled centrally and in order for that one person in the drafty apartment not to freeze the super jacks the heat up for everyone and everyone sweats and opens their windows to achieve the aforementioned bliss and it’s no wonder we have an energy crisis.

12. ANTICIPATION IS WHERE IT’S AT

There’s nothing like a good “will they/won’t they” story arc, and February is the perfect moment to lean into some meteorological foreplay. For example, my weather app told me it was going to be 40 degrees one day next week and I swooned! Only to check again and now it’s only 38. The drama! The desire! And when that first 40 degree day finally hits and I delight in the balmy air, it will be all the sweeter for having fantasized about it.

So there you go. Tell me which number is your vibe!

Because yes, I absolutely wrote this post as much for myself as anyone else. It’s cold out there!!! And yet, what a day to be alive.

When I was 23 years old and living in LA I tried to make it as an actor. It didn’t work out (obv), but I’ve never lost the love of performing arts—especially improv. So imagine my delight when my friend Nate who runs content at Nectar asked if I wanted to do a “man on the street” style interview series with them. It was very scary, and also exhilarating. Luckily that year of auditions in LA really prepared me for rejection!

I asked people in NYC to tell me about their work bestie and then call them to say thanks. It’s totally heartwarming if I say so myself. Watch and share!

My dear friend Sue, who is an immensely talented designer, has created the most important sweatshirt in the world. She’s selling them at cost. Get yours.

Our dog, Charlie, died last week. I wrote about my best trick for getting through the days prior. This one is a bonus post for paid subscribers but you can read the first part for free. If you’re so inclined, come join the paid crew in our cozy and kind corner of the internet.

(The five words are not “I’m having a terrible time.”)