Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

It’s the start of a new year! It’s time for new achievements and new goals. Yet there’s a looming presence over the year—the presidential election.

The election is just one of the many challenges we’ll face this year. Many of the other challenges will come from other aspects of our lives. Perhaps we want more peace. Or maybe you’re looking to create new productive avenues in your life. No matter what your challenge, you’ll be facing a fair amount of anxiety along with the excitement of working on something new.

This January, we’re taking a look at how to handle the stress, particularly the stress that the election will bring this year. But on a lighter note, we’ll talk about how that same anxiety can give way to better understanding and hope. Our focus on Moonlight, for example, will showcase how the meditative state of Pantone color of the year Classic Blue encourages us to allow peace into our lives. Also, the advice coming this month is advice you can use for any area of your life that’s particularly stressful. From my own understanding, anxiety tends to stem from a feeling of lack or fear, so the way to deal with most anxiety generally revolves around the similar tactics.

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We’ve also got some movie and TV news this month, with a look back at the definitive moment from Pose’s second season and how it might not be as impactful as I once thought. There’s John Cho’s moment in The Grudge this month, which got me to thinking about other horror moments Cho has had in his career. We’ll take an alternative look at The Great Gatsby. And there’s also the Lunar New Year, which can be celebrated with as many rat-themed films as you can handle.

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Despite election stress or other stresses, I hope this January will be more about expansion, goal-setting and accomplishments than it is about anxiety. We always see January as a time to restart, so why not focus more on getting your career and personal life where you want it to be rather than worry about how November will shake out. Regardless of who is in office, your peace of mind and life trajectory is what matters, so put yourself as your focus this year.

Happy January!

THIS MONTH’S DIGITAL COVER: