magic on sunday: caught in the swirl
i don't know when it happened, but within the last few years of adulthood, i've increasingly come to dread the holidays. and maybe dread is a strong word, but there's this certain sort of anxiety that seems to creep in as soon as the smell of snow (you know the one i'm talking about) arrives with the crisp autumn air.
trying to get to the bottom of it, i spent a lot of my flight back from charlotte this week thinking about why this feeling sets in, and i think i came to a pretty good self-satisfying conclusion. for whatever reason, the holidays make us (…me) feel like we should be happier than we are at any other time of the year.
like, this intense pressure to be extra joyful, more thankful, etc. for 6 weeks, we run around from friendsgivings, to thanksgivings, to tree lightings, to ugly sweater parties and christmas cocktail parties, shopping sprees, midnight-masses and christmas carols, culminating to a hyped up new year's eve.
it's not until january 1st that i finally feel like i can exhale.
i know that this all sounds like i was likely the grinch in a past life, but that's not the case, i promise! this undue holiday pressure makes it hard to even enjoy the the things i already have. it's like a massive sugar cookie and candy cane induced whirlwind that i feel compelled to join in on and keep up with. overtly sentimental holiday commercials and seasonal marketing doesn’t help either (ironically, i’m professionally guilty for this).
but here’s the thing, i don’t have to buy into all the “extras” that distract from the reminder that life is good, i have who and what i need, and that doesn’t change with the seasons.
with a short week, thanksgiving, and the official start of holiday season ahead, i’m channeling the words of william james as i fight the pressure to get swept up in the holiday frenzy:
“the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
magic on sunday: 11.20.16 [spotify playlist]
lovers carvings – bibio
kick jump twist – sylvan esso
existence is futile – tuath
st lucia – bernice
so good at being in trouble – umo
burbank – harriet
the breach – dustin tebbutt
happy thanksgiving to you and yours. t-4 days until canned cranberry sauce.
until sunday,
meghan
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