Of New Starts

And quiet endings

There’s something about newness. 

The fresh smell of rainy seasons, the soft glimmer of sunlight through your window, the crispness of a new untouched book, the awkwardness of your first day at work. 

It’s a cocktail of emotions: hope, excitement, uncertainty and a dash of fear that won’t last. From the first few days at work, running with vibes, figuring out stuff I’ve not done before with a tight deadline. It has been a lot. 

I love my job, to be honest, but it’s a lot. For the first month, I constantly worried about meeting expectations, becoming competent, learning, and whatnot. For someone who has been writing fiction and emotional nonfiction, one would think I’d be a bit more sure of myself as a copywriter, but nope. Apparently, business writing is entirely different from writing for fun, and there’s a mental switch I have to make for now not to let the fiction part of my brain run wild during work hours. 

It's my third month, and I feel like I’m making some progress; I feel like I am growing a spine that won’t cave to minor critiques. It’s nice. The days I worry about becoming that ‘competent boss lady’ reduce with each task I tackle. 

Work-life balance hasn’t been balanced in a while, but something has to give, right? Over time, I have tried new things despite the constant exhaustion that has made a nest in my bones. I am doing my best to get sunlight, water and nutrients.  And who knows what the new year will bring? 

There’s something about easing into things, easing into the new week on Sunday evenings, and getting into the flow of things by Wednesday.  Because it’s January, and I’ve forgotten all the Januarys I’ve had since 2021, I’ll document it here for the future. 

If you’re Nigerian, you know our anthem for the year is ‘no gree for anybody.’ I love it. I hope we can embody that in our day-to-day activities, doing much more stuff we like with relentless passion and audacity.  But despite all the planning and hype we have for the new year, January is a filler month. It’s like a new journal when the first few pages are perfectly colour-coded, gel pens approved, and handwriting neat with little persona. You get to March, everyone’s gotten the hang of it a bit, the novelty has worn off, and now we’re at the actual plot: the work, the tough questions, the decisions, the messy scribbles, the unreadable handwriting.  I think it’s funny to think of the middle parts of the year as filler years and the holidays more significant when it’s the other way around. You won’t write fanfiction about the first few minutes of a show when the climax is the basis of multiple shipping potentials. 

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Currently reading:  

Mistakenly Saving the Villian by Feng Yu Nie. It’s an uphill, downhill slope, and I love it. The world-building is vast, the ships are shipping, and the love is loving; what more could you ask for in a Danmei? Anyway, I’ll do a review soon, so start it! 

Song of the week! 

I’ve been stumbling across wonderful independent artists lately, and it's been a blessing. I’ll put you guys on the one in my head for a while now: Off Balance by Victor Ray. 

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Author’s Note: 

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all are breathing just fine and easing back into your routines. In the spirit of new stuff and enjoying newness, you may have noticed the title change of my substack. New Year, New Name, get it? Haha. The content may mostly stay the same. I’m still figuring out a schedule, but I have many ideas that’ll roll out slowly. 

PSA!!!

I am currently open to collaborating and having guest posts. So, if you’ve got a story/ article think piece that fits the voice of Midnight Musings, hit me up via email at janomaomena@gmail.com or Instagram janoma.omena Let’s make magic.