Quick introductory note, which you do not have to read if you’ve been here a while. Many of you are new to The Pundit, so this is for you—welcome, thank you, and I’m very happy you’re here. If you’re wondering what this seemingly wonky weekly-but-rotating-day publishing schedule is all about please read this.
Now back to regularly scheduled programming.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, has digested the bird, and has landed squarely in the next holiday season without needing Dramamine.
🤦🏼♀️
I’m right there with you.
And it’s still only November.
🤦🏼♀️
Thanksgiving is still visible in the rearview and already we’re sucked into the holiday rigamarole—decorating, calendar management, Christmas music through every speaker—blinded by offers of 20-40-50-60 (gasp!) percent off, and generally doing more of what we don’t want to do and less of what we’d like to do.
Because…it’s the holiday season…and that’s just what we do.
🤦🏼♀️
As you know from my post here Friday, my Thanksgiving was great. (If you missed it and the curiosity is killing you, you can catch up on it here.) My weekend was lovely, as expected…Thanksgiving Parts 2 and 3, on Friday in the form of a pizza party at my aunt and uncle’s with my cousins, their families, my mom, Kerri, and my sis and bro-in-law, and then on Saturday in the form of a long-overdue catchup and some roasted eggplant parmesan here with one of Kerri’s cousins. My Sunday plans changed, but that was ok. It gave me a little breathing room. And because Thanksgiving was early this year, I’m consciously and deliberately taking advantage of the extra time between now and Christmas…being a bit leisurely and moderating my holiday cheer. Too much of a good thing can render the good thing not very good so why rush it? Why force it?
I put up the tree Saturday. Decorated it partially yesterday. And I’ll keep chipping away at it this week. I plan to savor the process rather than be aggravated by it. I’m going to take my time with the ornaments, the decorations, the nativities, the festivities. Honestly if I’m gonna be aggravated and annoyed, why bother?
Historically, the tree takes me a while, in a ritual I’ve always savored. I play my favorite Christmas/holiday music, and I can frequently be overheard “singing” or found “dancing” from the tree to the box of wrapped ornaments and back. When I unwrap an ornament that I’ve been gifted or that immortalizes a shared experience, well, I *have* to take a picture of it on the tree and then send it with a text message to the giver/partner-in-crime to let them know I’m thinking of them.
And then since almost every other ornament is sentimental in its own right, unwrapping those triggers walk after walk down Memory Lane. The distances and durations of the walks vary, but I make sure to take a moment to honor the memory before finding the perfect branch. I smile. I laugh. I cry. I hang them up. (If you gave me an ornament and haven’t gotten your pic/text yet, it just means I haven’t put it up yet, not that I forgot about you.)
Weekend progress in a nutshell:
As I enjoyed the almost-sacred tree-decorating ritual, it got me thinking about ritual and routine in general and how sometimes so much of life feels like we live it as if we’re informed exclusively by the instructions on a shampoo bottle. Lather, rinse, repeat.
We go through the motions. But why? Is it easier? Nope. More enjoyable? Negative.
So why?
There’s really no good answer.
But…some shampoo bottles instruct us a bit differently. Lather. Rinse. Repeat if necessary. That “if necessary” is a phrase of critical importance as we careen through this festive season on hyperdrive, in a world that’s already moving at a breakneck pace.
What is necessary? What do we need? What do we want?
There’s no requirement that we repeat anything, unless we deem it necessary. Right?
Like I deem writing a haiku once every fifth week necessary, because…Monday Maiku. So here you go:
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Only if necessary. If it sucks, then stop.
Life is full of rhythms, routines, patterns, and connections. Life is cyclical, fleeting, impermanent…yet there is permanence within the impermanence. Even so, nothing is a foregone conclusion…unless we let it be.
We have a choice—do we need to wash our hair right after we washed our hair just because that’s what the stupid label says?
I don’t think so…and that’s what I was thinking about, my choice in everything, when the Sunday Scaries came on, hard and fast (and watching the Patriots “play” didn’t help to distract me from them). I had some time I have to lose or use before the year ends, so I took off last Monday and Tuesday to give myself a full week off, which was great when I wasn’t working but now is exacerbating the Scaries all the more. They’re off the charts. Bone-jarring, soul-sucking, stomach-churning Scaries.
And so it goes.
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
If necessary.
So ask yourself the question often and answer it honestly always.
Is it necessary?
If it isn’t you know what you have to do.
And so do I.
That said, I love that you think being here with me is necessary, and I appreciate your precious time and attention; I know how valuable they are.
Have a great week.
Love you too.
You rock Ms. Comeau. Thanks for your words and insights.
Happy Holidays!