Happy New Year! The first week after the start of the new year is always awkward. The holidays are over, the decorations are down, and it's just - winter. Blah. After the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year rush, normal life seems strange and dull. You're left with a nagging feeling of "what now?"
As dull and depressing as it seems, I think the time after the holidays is a good opportunity to embrace the mundane. How long has it been since you had a normal day that isn't impacted by the holidays coming up? Things are in such a rush especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas that getting through a day is overwhelming. Isn't it a relief to have the pressure removed? To get back to just life? I know it is for me. Having time to work on The Sentience Series is a treat, especially since I haven't had time to write since I published Alive right after Thanksgiving. Having time to read again is also a treat, because that all but stopped in the week before and during Christmas. The laptop and the Kindle were part of my daily life that I took for granted, until the business of the holidays took that away. Now, I'm glad to have it back.
What did you miss having time for over the holidays? Be honest. You don't really have to tell anybody but yourself that you're glad to listen to music other than Christmas music, or to watch "regular" TV shows and movies that don't have a holiday theme right now. You can privately celebrate that you don't have to go shopping this weekend, or have delivery people dropping boxes on your porch every day (or have to break down and take those boxes to the dump all the time). And the house may look empty without the decorations up, but you can celebrate in the fact that it's probably still clean and tidy after your efforts to prepare for the just-passed holiday celebrations.
I know it's a letdown, but this is the time to appreciate the little things. And perhaps that's the point of the post-holiday blues. Sure, it's hard to tighten the budget, the diet, and the time back to normal - but maybe the final celebration we should have is that of the ordinary, and how it blesses us. And that is a gift that's appropriate for all times, seasons, and circumstances.
That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.
As dull and depressing as it seems, I think the time after the holidays is a good opportunity to embrace the mundane. How long has it been since you had a normal day that isn't impacted by the holidays coming up? Things are in such a rush especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas that getting through a day is overwhelming. Isn't it a relief to have the pressure removed? To get back to just life? I know it is for me. Having time to work on The Sentience Series is a treat, especially since I haven't had time to write since I published Alive right after Thanksgiving. Having time to read again is also a treat, because that all but stopped in the week before and during Christmas. The laptop and the Kindle were part of my daily life that I took for granted, until the business of the holidays took that away. Now, I'm glad to have it back.
What did you miss having time for over the holidays? Be honest. You don't really have to tell anybody but yourself that you're glad to listen to music other than Christmas music, or to watch "regular" TV shows and movies that don't have a holiday theme right now. You can privately celebrate that you don't have to go shopping this weekend, or have delivery people dropping boxes on your porch every day (or have to break down and take those boxes to the dump all the time). And the house may look empty without the decorations up, but you can celebrate in the fact that it's probably still clean and tidy after your efforts to prepare for the just-passed holiday celebrations.
I know it's a letdown, but this is the time to appreciate the little things. And perhaps that's the point of the post-holiday blues. Sure, it's hard to tighten the budget, the diet, and the time back to normal - but maybe the final celebration we should have is that of the ordinary, and how it blesses us. And that is a gift that's appropriate for all times, seasons, and circumstances.
That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.
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