I haven’t blogged in a couple of days. Okay more than a couple of days. Mostly because it’s been very busy here and I am close to the end of the book.
To be honest, never really sure what to talk about in a blog. If I were smart I would do some kind of video and be little bit more interactive. So maybe I should do that in the coming weeks and try to give a little bit more of a view into my life.
Other than of course me typing at my computer.
I feel a little strange talking about my books. Which is stupid because that’s pretty much what a blog is for, right? But it’s kind of strange or at least from this side of the table.
For example, Tutus and Tinsel comes out in a couple of weeks and I haven’t really spoken about it. Or at least not a lot. It was oddly a difficult book to write because I realized I don’t have a good idea about what Christmas traditions are, especially for mainland America. I’m not much of a Christmas person. Or rather the December holidays, to be inclusive. My two major holidays are Halloween and Thanksgiving. And it’s not because my family isn’t overtly religious or don’t do presents, it’s just not been a really huge explosion of a celebration for us.
So it was really kind of interesting to explore different traditions for a bunch of different religions and regions. So in the book, Zig has realize she has no familial anchor to the holidays so Deacon and Lang set about to helping her not just discover traditions they can continue as a family but also to help her realize she’s truly home.
I think that’s the driving force for every single celebration. Especially ones like Thanksgiving and the December holidays. It isn’t so much about what we can give each other but rather what we mean to each other.
I will admit to really liking to give presents. I don’t really care about getting them. I just like to give them. It’s always been that way for me. I’m sure there’s some sort of psychological hang-up about me not liking gifts because wanting them leads to expectations and often times, when I was a kid, having expectations always lead to disappointment. But this isn’t a therapy session and I’m not so sure that exists in me anymore. But I still like to give gifts.
There is also something about this time that I feel it’s necessary to give to others who perhaps cannot make something happen for themselves. I will adopt a family or two and arrange for flights or donate miles so people can go home for the holidays. I always give to pet rescues and gather up toys to drop off at Toys for Tots as well as the Boys and Girls Club. These are things I feel are obligations in a way because I have been given so much by so many that I should return that, I should pay it forward.
So perhaps that’s the reason we celebrate one another during December. It’s the end of a long year and we have all gone through so much. Now is the time to reflect on our relationships and to reach out to one another, making sure we all have rice in our bowls as well as water in our cups.
I am going to ask of all of you to reach out to someone over the next few weeks and make sure they’re okay. And if you are one of those people for whom the shadows are closing in on, I implore you to do the reaching out as well. While it is the darkest time of the year for so many of us, it should also be the brightest.
Light a candle. If not for others, do it for yourself. Let us see one another during the last few weeks of this year and in the months to follow. Don’t forget to celebrate yourself. Take the time to breathe. Take the time to care for you as well as those around you. Most of all, please know that I am forever grateful to everyone who is with me on this crazy journey I do every year.
You all are the greatest gift. I can ask for nothing more.
Rhys Ford 