Happy Holidays!

Time is rushing again. I can’t believe the solstice and Christmas will be here so soon. Saturday night, I got to stay in a lovely hotel downtown that had this massive gingerbread house in the lobby. It was big enough for everyone to walk through and for kids to play inside. It was so cute that it finally ignited a little holiday spirit in me.

Whether or not I have fully acclimated, work and life are back to their normal pace. The last few weeks, in between trying to catch up on everything, I’ve tried processing everything this year. Personally, this year challenged me in ways I wasn’t anticipating. Y’all know that 2016 represents the hardest of hard years for me. As challenging as 2020 was in many ways, it felt manageable for me, because I’d survived 2016. That year completely blew up and re-structured all of my life through my divorce and everything that led up to it.

The challenges this year didn’t blow up my life in such visible ways, but they hit deep at my identity and my values, breaking me down and requiring me to reconsider and reconstruct just about everything. In almost every aspect of my life, I found myself questioning what got me here and what I want to carry forward with me.

Here at the end of this year, as I prepare for the solstice and set intentions for the new year, the rubble left by this year surrounds me, and I am not exactly sure how to reassemble it. It all leaves me a little hopeful, a little unsure, and a lot contemplative. Fortunately, my recent reorganization of the living room and assembly of the Christmas tree, gives me a lovely spot to do all that contemplation.

Amid the rubble, the foundation is the only thing visible to me right now. Unsurprisingly, for me, that foundation is clearly community. Strengthening my existing communities, expanding and forming new communities, these are the foundational work of my reconstruction. As the world around us works so hard to keep us disconnected and distrustful, purposeful community building in any aspect of life feels transgressive and essential. Whether it was volunteering at the museum, working the election polls, joining the library knitting group, or writing here, this year the communities in my world gave me connection, energy, and joy.

Thank you all for being one of my communities.