Post 289 - December 25, 2020

Day 289…

Christmas morning on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Michael was up late, so he is still sleeping. The cat is with his wooden bowl.

Last night, it was as windy as I ever remember it being. Our windows rattled as if they were going to blow into the room.

This morning it’s calm. It’s rainy and grey. Inside here, though, it’s warm and cozy. Maybe a little too warm. We have the windows open.

There’s plenty going on around the world, but today is about family and friends and celebrating the season, so the heck with all the rest of it.

The Christian holiday of Christmas celebrates a birth. The early Christians attached this celebration onto an already established pagan holiday that celebrated the solstice - in itself a rebirth. Both are about new beginnings. Another chance to get it right.

The coming of the light.

Whatever you believe, and whatever you may celebrate, may the joy of this season help to carry you through the rest of this year and well into the next. This new year before us will certainly have its challenges, but we have to believe that there will also be much to celebrate during it, as well.

We will have to wait and see.

For today, the year ahead doesn’t matter. There’s plenty of time to think about it tomorrow. This past year doesn’t matter either. Sure, there are lessons to be learned from it, but not today. Schools is officially on a break.

For today, whether you are on your own or with family or friends, know that you are surrounded by a whole community of people - many of whom may be going through exactly what you are.

Today is not a day for despair, it is a day for hope.

You are not alone.

We are not alone.

We are all inextricably linked together in a messy tangled web of human connections - whether we like it or not.

May the spirit of this holiday season lift you all.

A very merry Christmas to everyone from me, Michael and, of course, the cat.