The December Fog. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s not like there’s nothing to do, in fact, there’s too much to do.

It starts just before Thanksgiving, with all the reminders of the things we need to do to prepare for the holidays. There are extra family get-togethers, extra parties, extra invitations to accept. There are obligations right and left, and none of our previous commitments are set aside. We are supposed to do those too. It just seems to be incredibly busy, and getting more busy.

Life doesn’t stop for the holidays, the holidays are just piled on top. 

I am trying to discern if December is a good month for me or not. Sure there are extra Christmas gigs, and there are extra projects with recording sessions with students. There’s colder and wetter weather, and halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas day is my birthday. December is my month of reminders. I’m reminded of what happened that year. I’m reminded that I’m getting older. I get cards in the mail from friends that I have not kept in touch with and most of them I would like too. I am reminded that I don’t do a good enough job staying in touch.

Yeah, I think December is a bit foggy. There is a fog between everything I need to get done, I can only seem to see in front of me a few feet at a time. And more than other months December is a month of doing stuff, lots of it. It’s an exercise and how much can I cram into each day, each week, the month, the season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s day.

There is a fog between everything I need to get done, I can only seem to see in front of me a few feet at a time.

Doing Less is Hard

I’ve said this before, and December really puts it to the test, “doing less is hard.” Can you imagine trying to drop a tradition off of your holiday rotation? What would your family say? I can’t imagine dropping one. I would miss it myself.  I guess during Covid many of us did drop family gatherings, Christmas parties and the likes. It just didn’t work the same. It didn’t feel right.

So the race is in full swing and we’re sprinting towards the family get-togethers, and hopefully we can grab a few days of rest before the new year. That’s what we do.

Should this!

Yeah, I get the “Should’s” really bad this time of year. That’s it. All the stuff I “should” do. The people I “should” spend time with and/or at least get in touch with somehow. I can’t manage it on top of all the stuff I am already “shoulding” every day. But what makes it worse, is I want to do most of that stuff that I “should” do. Hence the challenge of cramming it all in. I really do want to see everyone and do everything.

Well you know…

You know what I should do? I probably should stop writing and get back to this list of things I am shoulding all over.