December is like a game of Jenga. I start off strong, ready to accept every holiday invitation and family commitment. But as I attend each holiday dinner, party, and gift exchange, a little piece of me diminishes, until I finally crumple into a pile of exhaustion—otherwise known as Dry January.
One obvious way to keep it together this season is to be more mindful about drinking, not necessarily by cutting out booze, but by building in time to savor every festive drink. Re-centering yourself with a cup or glass in hand is a universal tradition: The Italians enjoy apertivo hour, Scandinavians make time each day for fika—coffee and cake—and millions of people from England to Japan have rituals around tea, be it a late afternoon cuppa or a ceremony.
