December was weird this year. I realize how ridiculous it is to say that because the last few years every December has been all kind of bizarre for us, something different every year.
This year we didn’t have any major financial crisis or major illness and our house wasn’t under construction.
But I just wasn’t feeling it. I don’t know if I should blame it on work stress, home life difficulties or the late Thanksgiving. It’s been an emotionally rough month.
Loved
While I didn’t make as much time as I would have liked for it, I really enjoyed playing Christmas carols this year. This past spring we had our piano moved from the downstairs family room to the living room and I do find that I play more often. It was easy to just sit down and play through a couple songs after dinner. I found that sometimes it did help me feel more in the Christmas spirit (and sometimes I cried too). But now that the month is coming to a close, I’m glad I made the time.
Accomplished
I can’t quite decide if this was an accomplishment or not, but this year I did a lot less. I bought some of the gluten free baked goods at a new local gluten free bakery and skipped making a bunch of others. I didn’t do any handmaid Christmas gifts. My husband did most of the wrapping (which I felt a little guilty about but really appreciated)
Basically I did as little as possible because I had so little energy and for the most part, we didn’t miss much. I think next year I’ll try to consider which things really matter after all.
Improved/Needs Improvement
I need to find hobbies again. While I have been playing piano a bit more, I’d like to make time for some of the handicrafts I used to enjoy. I know I tend to go hard when it comes to goals in January and usually it’s fairly unrealistic. But I would genuinely like to prioritize doing more things that I enjoy.
I’m entirely sure how to make that happen when I will probably been taking on more work this spring as well as working through editing my novel and possibly beginning the terrifying process of pursuing publication. But I know that my body (and soul) need to find something relaxing to do that also feels my creative spirit.
Noticed
I noticed how down I was feeling during December this month. Basically until Christmas Eve I would have been happy to just skip the whole thing. Fortunately on Christmas Eve things took a turn for the better and while Christmas Day was a bit different this year, overall it was fairly relaxing.
I don’t have a word of the year. I have vague goals that probably need defining but I’m not going to require myself to have it all worked out by January 1 (or possibly even by January at all). I’m trying to ease into the year and be gentle with myself, while still trying to make reasonable plans.
Here comes 2025!
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