Happy solstice, everyone. Or Yule or Christmas or New Year’s or whatever it is you do or do not celebrate. The year has been a pretty bad one on a global scale, I’ve reckoned. People I’ve admired has passed away, and there’s been politics and other disasters. But for me personally I’ll have to sum the year up as pretty good. I have many things to be thankful for.
Friendship. Love. New people I’ve had the privilege of getting to know. People already dear to me who I’ve had the luck of keeping in my life. Folk music (playing, listening to, and dancing!). Writing school. Poetry. Parties. Storytelling nights. Festivals. A week-long mountain hike, and several shorter ones nearby. Many LARPs. A hell of a lot of pancakes. Slow breakfasts on the balcony. Many interesting books. A home that I truly love and feel at home in. Tea. Bike rides. Deep thoughts. Couchsurfers. Museum visits. Magic. Hidden places. The best roleplaying campaign I’ve ever been a part of (Changeling!). Cats. Letters. Queer movie nights. Hammocks. Trampolines. Concerts. Plays. Operas. A marginally more stable economical situation. Spontaneous adventures. Treehugging. Open fires. Some progress on my master’s degree. A mostly barefoot summer. Long runs. Stargazing nights. Joy of life.
Oh, life’s been hard, too. But let’s not linger on that right now. I’d rather look forward with hope on the year to come. I typically give myself a bunch of resolutions, but I won’t do that this time around. Instead I’m going to give myself a respite. Half a year of additional time to finish this year’s resolutions, instead of leaving them all unfinished. Because I am well on my way, and I like the motivations and ways of living they bring into my life, they just seem to take a bit longer than I had anticipated to fulfill. And that’s okay! This might seem a trivial thing to some. Hell, even having New Years’ resolutions might be considered nothing but an indulgence in futility. But to someone who is used to judging themselves way too harshly it is a pretty big deal. So thank you, me, for taking a bit of pressure off.
This is probably the last thing you’ll hear from me before the year is over. I have a call of mountains, of snow, and of darkness to heed. See you on the other side of festivities or whatever!
Love and midwinter,
Winterdragon
