Of Monsters & Time
- Guthrie Brown
- Jan 22
- 2 min read
January 22, 2026 | Issue #25
Hi Friends,
I hope the year has been as kind to you as it can be, or at the very least, not too dramatic in its entrance. But, from what I’ve gathered, it may not be the case. Which is why January has this way of making itself be known, not through fireworks or fanfare, but through its sheer length. It’s the month that seems to stretch itself across the calendar like a cat sprawled out in a sunny spot.
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." -Rabindranath Tagor
Lately I’ve been thinking about why this month feels so unusually long. Neuroscientists talk about how our perception of time shifts depending on routine, important dates, and the emotional weight we’re carrying. And January, being the month that comes after three months of solid holiday festivities and hustling, along with being a month without any major holiday. It’s no wonder it lingers, expands, and asks us to look around a little more closely than we might prefer.
Somewhere is this long stretch, my mind wandered to Frankenstein. Not the spooky, yet friendly caricature, but the original creature, curious, lonely, and misunderstood. The more I’ve mulled it over, the more it struck me how often the “monster” in a story isn’t the thing created, but the fear surrounding it. Victor ran, not just from what he had made, but who he had become along the way. The crowd chose to judge what they didn’t understand before they made their assumptions and conclusions.
"How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!" -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
January gives us the space to notice the things we’ve built, those habits, identities, expectations, and decide whether we’re nurturing them or running from them with our metaphorical pitchforks. It’s a month stitched together by time and odd little human truths, and that’s exactly what I explored in this months topic.
January: A Month Stitched Together by Time and Ordinary Human Oddities
Thanks for reading!
Until Next Time, Guthrie
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