Putting up the holiday decorations…
Each year, this is frankly my least favorite activity. But, I am compelled to get this done before my birthday, before I find myself well into January, looking at this chore. It will make me feel better to get all of this completed!
A mixmaster of memories – good, bad, traumatic, joyful, sad, happy, bittersweet – each ornament seemingly drives something from my inventory of emotions – something that might be perilous but also might bring lots of thoughts about funny and happy times – by this time, however, it’s decades over decades of these, overlain onto one another –
Some of these ornaments are very old – depression era – even older than that – and I worry about being the guardian of these – for future generations – does anyone care these days?
My older relatives, not that there are that many left, have not exactly held that feeling of importance, about keeping the antiquities – they have downsized efficiently over the last few years – thinking that ten years ago, they were just a little older than I am now, and they were downsizing then – and yes, I know it is time to downsize – clean up – pare down – sort, slice, dice, and whatever it takes to keep people from having to do the work that we are doing to “get rid of shit” that we really do not care that much about, or we do, but one or the other of us finds that the accumulation is annoying and it causes issues beyond just having the stuff occupy space.
In consideration of all that, I likely need to think about this when I am “accumulating” – i.e., stop – and begin the progression of paring down activities – not unlike recycling, it is conscious effort to take up the habit of doing so.
Here We Are In The Years. Neil Young said in his song, years ago – “Now that the holidays have come – They can relax and watch the sun – Rise above all of the beautiful things they’ve done… Time itself is bought and sold – The spreading fear of growing old – Contains a thousand foolish games that we play – While people planning trips to stars – Allow another boulevard to claim a quiet country lane – It’s insane” From October 2, 1968.
Yes, it is. Each year, it seems that these words ring true even more than the year before. Holidays or no, soon I will be marking another trip around the sun, one more time.
My quest? Find more joy in the world – how can we do that? It’s an edgy place. Thinking of taking down my Facebook account. Saving all the data. Starting all over. It’s an idea. Not thinking that the experiment has worked out so well…
