In This Season

Every single day I try to make time, usually at the end of the day, but sometimes throughout the day, to reflect on the goodness that I experienced that day.

I especially like those positive and beautiful thoughts to be the last thoughts I have before falling asleep. To be carried by them into my nightly rest is something I’m grateful for each day.

Some days, of course, it’s a little harder to recall what I'm grateful for. Maybe I'm just too tired to think at a late hour. Maybe I'm wrestling with a frustration or problem instead. Maybe I simply forget. But I certainly try to give thanks for the many special moments that bring me joy or wonder or reassurance or peace or love each day. 

I always feel better when I do. 

Because we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in November, here in the United States, being grateful is something I always think more about this month. November and December are actually my favorite two months of the year. The “holiday season” that starts in November and continues into the beginning of the new year, is a season that I love very much. 

I love the music of the season. I love giving and receiving gifts with my family and a few of my closest friends. I love sending cards and special greetings to people who have been instrumental in my life. I love the traditional rituals and the special times of getting together with my family and friends. I love what the season represents - new life, celebration, a deeper focus on hope, joy, peace, love, and gratitude. 

I love, especially, that most people seem to try a little harder to be nicer, friendlier, more gracious, and more generous. I love, too, that there are rituals across this time of year that show a greater intentionality to slow down and make the time to connect with those who are important to us. Work often slows down. There are more official days off that most people often have. There is simply a spirit in the air  that allows for stepping back and not working as hard. For making the time to refresh and recharge and to enjoy one another as human beings. For wishing one another well. For spreading greater cheer. For celebrating our connections and relationships, and the hope and possibility of better days that a new year ahead may bring. 

Now, I know that not everyone loves the holiday season. For those who are lonely or alone, it can be depressing. For those who are estranged from family and friends, it can be awkward and painful. For those who are worried about their health or their jobs or their future, it can be hard to celebrate or have hope. For those who are grieving the loss of someone they love, it can be a dark and sad season. For those who are afraid of any number of circumstances about their lives, it can be the worst and most dreaded season of the year. 

I understand that can be so. I respect that it is so for many, many people. I always want to be empathetic and sensitive to those who dread this season of the year. I know it can be profoundly distressing for them.

My birthday is during this season of the year. So, maybe that’s also why it’s a more special time of the year for me. But I remember the year that I turned 15, when the holiday season was not my favorite time of the year. Earlier in the fall of that year, my paternal grandfather died of cancer, at age 54, after a very sudden illness and hospitalization. His was the first significant death in my life. That holiday season was a dark one in our home. It took a toll on my father and there was a pall, a storm cloud, that descended over our home that year. It was tense and confusing and not so much fun to celebrate. I didn’t like it. It was a turbulent and unfamiliar time, maybe the first real awakening for me of what loss and grief were all about. It was the year that I definitely realized that the holidays were not always merry and bright for everyone. And over the course of a lifetime, I have been reminded that just because the season is supposed to be about light and goodness and promise and connection and celebration, for any infinite number of reasons it is not an easy or peaceful season for far too many people - and maybe for all of us at one (or more) time(s) or another. 

Yet, as much as possible, I still look for this season in the most positive light that I can. Something about it renews my sense of awe and anticipation, my feelings of warmth and wonder, my belief that it is a special time for deeper connection, reflection, and gratitude.

Despite the infinite things in this life and world that are wrong and can possibly go wrong, I am grateful for a season that calls us to be thankful, that encourages us to slow down a bit and celebrate, that compels us to connect more closely with one another to enjoy the beauty and goodness that this life and world can surely give us when we make the time to see it and feel it among us. 

Photo by Tanya Prodaan on Unsplash