Thanksgiving is next week – exactly ten days away – so it’s not too soon to begin the holiday season and all its accompanying traditions, decorations, merry-making, and Mariah Fucking Carey. The world feels more somber and series this year – maybe it’s the ongoing pandemic that has cast such a shadow, maybe we’re all just getting older, maybe things really are darker than they have ever been. If it’s any or all of those, let us seek out the light and warmth and love that are hallmarks of the holiday season, and to that end let us begin.
Bringing these candles out of basement storage and into the attic loft was my first holiday act, in the hopes of letting in some hygge while the November wind and rain raged outside as the weather catches up to the calendar. Keeping things simple, with a focus on candles and light, is the plan for this Christmas, something that I hope to keep going through the end of January, when the year is at its darkest.
As the days grow gray and bleak, we approach the winter with less autumn ahead of us than is now behind us. Rather than entering the season with bombast and cheer and ignoring all that this last year has brought us, this song seems a more fitting and appropriate entrance – one of softness and gentleness. The holidays don’t always mean that life is happier for everyone, but at their best, and at their life-affirming core, they remind us to be kinder, quieter, and thankful for what we still have.
When the year hovers around Thanksgiving, and the dim turn the season will take is upon us, it is the light and the glimmers of beauty that bring solace to wherever we may find ourselves. I’m turning the attic into a space for hygge – the warm and cozy feeling that comes into its own starting now. Today it’s embodied by these candles and this song ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’. Last year I got a late start on it. This year I’m a bit ahead – and it’s ok to indulge in whatever makes these days a little more comforting.
