Something blue
Added 2023-12-24 19:40:53 +0000 UTCSomeone said to me this week - perhaps the holidays can feel so blue because it's a moment of confrontation between reality and the ideal.
Maybe Christmas is one of those few square pegs left over that we still try to stuff into a round hole, like the idealized 1950's family life with a white picket fence and a shiny red car in the driveway. Some ideals are apparently hard to let go, even if we never had them. Ideals society seared into my brain, for example - finding "the one" - feel further and further from me with time. I'm not sure if it's refreshing, or just numbing.
This year for Christmas I'm staying home, doing nothing but baking cookies and recharging. I hope the holidays, if you celebrate them or if you don't, can be a little more on your own terms this year and less on society's ideal.
PS - I took these photos before my new baby cat Pringle arrived! My friend in Detroit found a cat hanging on his porch, and took care of him for a month before driving him all the way to NYC. He's the perfect match for Finn...a boy (Finn loves boy cats), super energetic and playful, not shy or scared at all. He's a beautiful lavender grey silver color, and looks like he's going to grow into a quite a big cat judging by the size of his paws! Pringle comes from a Scottish term meaning "to tickle or annoy" and although it does make me think of potato chips, I also love chips so....
Comments
'"Let it be different." Mourn whatever ideal traditions may have been lost (or never had) but also be present to enjoy how you may actually be celebrating the holidays instead.' This is holiday advice that I've valued this year as some of my traditional extended family relationships have broken down. My immediate family & I did an outside-the-box vacation to celebrate the holidays and it was excellent. It sounds like yours was satisfying too.
Matt Baldwin
2023-12-30 15:48:08 +0000 UTC
