2. Something to look forward to
or perhaps a few things, scattered across the middle distance
Well, we’re in the thick of it now, aren’t we? Christmas music blaring in every store, signs and ads and emails and texts screaming at us to shop shop shop, spend spend spend, and that particular pervasive mist of expectation that this season be magical for everyone, even if the stark reality is that for many, it is not magical. It is not even the opposite of magical, which I imagine would be mundane. (Mundane might actually be quite a nice option in the face of this season of enforced wonderment. But mundane is usually out of reach this month.) No, what it is, for so many, is painful.
There are so many different varieties of emotional pain that may surface at this time of year. If you are experiencing any form of it, I hope you are able to find some respite. If this season feels much like you are standing in a big patch of stinging nettles, I hope there may be some wildflowers hiding in amongst them. Or at least some butterflies floating by above to take your mind off the sting for a while. (Okay, maybe a bit of magical thinking is not actually the worst.)
I have faced every major holiday this year with a healthy dose of dread. (I am not denying that I also have a LOT to be grateful for, and thinking about all those things - practicing gratitude - is another one of my strategies. But not this week’s strategy.) This week’s strategy is finding something to look forward to. I’m not talking about the things we are supposed to look forward to, I’m talking about something just for you, that when you think about it off there in the not-too-distant future, it provides a little incentive to keep going.
I’ve landed on a few, myself, so far, and I’ve put them in my calendar, and if the dread starts creeping up I look at my calendar and think about that thing in the future that I am excited for, and it provides a little lift. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. One of mine, coming up on December 19th, is the removal of the cast I have had on my left arm since November 3 (three days after I fell off my bike, onto my outstretched hand. Foosh.) It is not my dominant hand, nor has it been a huge hassle, but man am I looking forward to getting it removed. Once I get it removed I can start swimming again, which has, truly, been one of my top strategies this year. (But again, not this week’s strategy.)
I don’t have any links this week, so please enjoy the little posy of winter flowers I placed in my eldest daughter’s room this morning. Her return home was also on my calendar of things to look forward to.
What are you looking forward to?
Sending love,
Rebecca
I also have some little goal posts that I’m looking forward to to get me through. The first is getting all my prep done for the supply teachers who are replacing me during a medical leave. I managed to get the first two days finished before I left, and my desk was covered in little piles of instructions and photocopies, identified with heart shaped stickies. But I still have to write up 4 day’s worth before Sunday night. Once that is done I might even feel up to doing some Xmas baking.
I am also looking forward to a few days from now when C has finished Tom Lake so that I can finally read it. That might even coincide with my prep being done which would be perfect timing.