December is a month of holiday festivities, near-nonstop sales advertisements, and many religious observations surrounding light. In the Northern Hemisphere, as we venture faster than dropping temperatures to the longest night and shortest day, it is only natural to think of the coming year and ask: where do we want to go?
Are we considering new adventures in our professional lives, our spiritual lives, our physical home lives, our family lives? Are we thinking about how to acquire our dreams? Are we falling in love with life or falling out of love with what surrounds us?
Where do we want to go? A simple question with a myriad of answers, all wrapped up in a flood of tantalizing possibilities.
Pine cones [Pixabay]
I look forward to celebrating the ultimate book-loving Icelandic tradition of exchanging and reading books on Christmas Eve, Jólabókaflóð, even though I have not celebrated anything non-Pagan since my teenage years.
Thoughts of taking up a new hobby, like learning to play guitar or piano, float through as possibilities because life is so short and yet we do so much during out individual sojourns here on this plane of existence. As children, time takes on a perception of being overly long. What happens at seven and what happens at eight appear to be light years apart.
If someone asked you at age seven or eight the question “where do you want to go?,” the literal answer might be to see friends, go to a movie, or spend time playing. In youth life is filled with playtime, school time, chore time, and most importantly, dream time. We daydream and from those imaginings we orchestrate, unknowingly and unwillingly, our future selves. When encouraged by those around us, our actions become the path to becoming prodigies, gifted representations of the best we can be in our path to and through adulthood.
When trauma, disparagement, or discouragement enters the picture, we venture from our true prospective selves into our a realm of safety or perception of safety. Fear drives us into what is acceptable and what carries the fewest risks rather than what makes us happy.
I want to go to a place that does not inspire fear, but embraces hope. At this time of the year, thinking of places that appeal to the senses, to nostalgia, and to renewal makes me want to go there and embrace happiness.
Just over five and a half years ago, on the afternoon of April 15, 2019, I watched on live televison in horror as Notre Dame de Paris, one of the most famous cathedrals in the world, burned and its spire fell. Many faith traditions commemorate the light, renewal, miracles, and humanity itself during the month of December, so it is fitting that the renewal of a well-known monument should occur on December 7, 2024 with its reopening.
Another tradition that I embrace at this time of the year is to try something new. Living in Minnesota, a state where cold is the norm for nearly half the year, taking care to develop new interests or to renew lost acquaintance with others truly matters. At some point, it might be snow shoeing or cross-country skiing, but that’s on the list for a different time when I am feeling more brave externally. Books are a given, so the Jólabókaflóð is treasured.
This year however, I am re-embracing my love for piano as an instrument that can help to explore intense and subtle emotions. Far from an overnight process, it probably will be a few years of taking my time getting to know the keyboard and chords all over again. It is the start that matters.
As a child, my family could not afford to own a piano, so I memorized chords and finger placements from week to week. Sadly, that only goes so far. Now, I get to do it for myself, which brings a bit of joy and adventure that helps to slough off the grind and exhaustion from everyday work or minor disappointments. As a goal, the success of getting a chord down well after a number of times will soothe the ache of sadness and anger that blankets the communal atmosphere I feel around me in our community.
For many, this year is ending on a somber note. For some, the recent U.S. elections suddenly deferred, if not completely derailed, their dreams for the future. The election season leaves a morass of broken hearts, frustrated emotions, and confusion. Friends who thought they knew others, or themselves, are taking this time to question who they are as individuals, what it means to be a citizen in the United States of America, what it means to be a part of a united community, or who one can even trust. For many, this is not a time of clarity, but one of confusion.
A balm to bring balance back into our lives, individually and communally, is essential and crucial at this time. We start by considering where we want to go, what we want to do, and who we want to be. Often, we are asked the “who” and the “what” of this trilogy, but we still need to consider the “where.”
A spider web ringed with dew [Pixabay]
In thinking about this time of year, and asking the self where it wants to go, we need to take the time to enjoy the music formed by our hearts, whether it is music that one creates on an actual instrument or with one’s presence in gathering with friends, family, and loved ones of choice.
December allows us the joy of expressing a myriad of traditions in so many ways with so many individuals. Most importantly, we get the pleasure and honor of reconnecting with ourselves as individuals.
In the spirit of the music that forms connections in our bodies and our hearts, ask not just what you want to be, or who you want to be, but where you want to go. Sometimes, before we have the answers to the first two parts, we know in our heart and gut the answer to where we want to go.
Wishing many holiday blessings of all stripes to each of you as you take time of embrace the music of your heart. We are all a part of the web of humanity.
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