The winter holiday season is exquisitely soul warming!
Surely it is not just the music and lights. We can do without the gifts, although who doesn't like delightful surprises?! The libations keep us merry. The fireplace adds to the wonder. Time with family and watching the ball drop, for sure. The chill in the air and the snow flurries too.
It isn’t any one thing; the secret is everything, everywhere all at once.
We are needlessly overindulging in high calories as if the God of Health has given us a reprieve from the austerity of the preceding months. The promise of a new beginning brings renewed resolve to care for ourselves and each other in better ways. That adds a delightful dollop on the collective enthusiasm.
There’s a fair share of guilt for feeling ebullient when dear ones are coping with loss, ill health and a myriad of other challenges. By flooding them with positive thoughts, this season makes me believe that we can make the universe back off and bless them with peace.
My personal wish for the new year is not to tick off anybody.
Uh, did you just hear a groan?!
That was a resounding “Impossible!” from my family.
I am extraordinarily talented at this so let me temper it to tick off less frequently. I am quick with exposing my porcupine spikes, sometimes unnecessarily. Worst of all, when the zodiac goat runs into the porcupine, I’m left to deal with the most unmanageable, stubborn, eccentric beast of all.
I want to nurture the inner crossbreed into the friendly squirrel that lives in our granddaughter’s backyard, the one that scurries from tree to tree, leaping with no safety net and bringing joy and wonder. If I can’t be the squirrel, then let me at least be Mike, the friendly orangutan, who protects us from visible and invisible forces that scare us needlessly. That’s my wish for the new year and every day after.
Here’s to the best version of ourselves.
May 2025 be kind to all of us! Cheers.
Comments