Right before Andy was about to fill his favorite coffee cup for a morning cup of coffee, I borrowed it for this picture, and filled it with oolong tea. At such times he will occasionally refer to me as a menace, even if my usurping of his favored cup was entirely unintentional as far as disrupting his routine. Such is cohabitation, even after twenty-four years. 

A cup of tea is a favored ritual for reminding one to be mindful. The process of making tea is simple enough – and the basic steps involved are an easy lesson in how to focus on the singular steps of a task one by one. That has translated into a step-by-step correlation on how to get through the average day. One step at a time, one little goal to accomplish, then on to the next. The idea of an entire day can be daunting for some people, but the idea of a minute or two is manageable for most of us. A day is nothing but a collection of minutes – you just need to get through them one by one. Or, as a wise man once remarked, “Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window.” That made more sense in my head than when I actually typed it out, but it stands true separately, perhaps not in direct relation.

Now I’ve dipped into the folly of overthinking when my mind should be on the tea at hand. 

According to hearsay and annual reports from this very blog (trust neither) January 6 is the saddest day of the year. That makes sense to me – the Christmas and New Year’s season are finished – Little Christmas is done – and most of us are back to school and work at the point where winter has only just begun. The long haul begins in daunting, depressing and disheartening fashion. A spell of post-holiday blues is to be expected, though this year, perhaps because the holidays weren’t a time of celebratory shenanigans, I’m feeling less blue than usual. In fact, ever since 2025 dawned, I’ve felt a calm and sense of hopefulness that I’m attributing to the (deliberated chosen) lack of news on television as well as a renewed focus on daily meditation. Along with a new book and intent on being more mindful, this year has started off in calm and tranquil waters. May this be a reminder that so much of life is how we perceive it, and how we choose to respond to that perception. In other words, we have more control over what happens to us than we think. 

To that end, in an effort to combat what is typically perceived as such a dreadful day, I will be focusing on finding moments of peace and prettiness, and taking any sort of dismal news that comes my way as a minor bump, easy to navigate around or roll right over. Rolling with the punches and traveling with the tide is so much easier than constantly battling against it. It doesn’t negate the opportunity to address things later on, and sometimes simply sleeping on a prickly issue blunts the sharpest points of said pricks. For today, I’m setting down the battle-ax and refusing to issue any battle-cries. 

Let us find comfort in the day, and in each other. 

Patti LaBelle’s Over-the-Rainbow Mac and cheese, along with a hefty side-helping of collard greens, provide the main sustenance I’ve had for the past two weeks. Don’t judge – it was the holidays; we are back to salads and intermittent fasting now. Here’s a weekly blog recap that you will hopefully find as comforting as this plate of goodies:

What do you think of holidays that fall on a Wednesday?

2025 began in contemplative and quiet fashion, the very best way to begin.

Things that start in silence leave room to build.

A song for New Year’s Day.

Calming song, soothing morning. 

A gratuitous Tom Holland post.

Taking stock of the wind in our fails.

Forget the rubbing and shredding, try this easiest fondue I’ve ever made.

It finally happened: glitter on my dick.

Returning to non-innocence: a few almost-naked male celebrities.

Riding on the icy air, a rose defies winter.

For the future, a year of look-backs.

During such dim days, a deeper winter read.

Neither delicate nor demure, a flower is ferocious.

What say you to low-carb cabbage pizza?

Wilting or withering or fading like a flower.

The year that was 2024 came to a close with this first part of the year in review.

And when there’s a part one, there should always be a part two.