Holidays, The Universe, and Learning How to Breathe Without Oxygen

On Christmas

“But shouldn’t we be merry?” asked mouse.

“If you feel merry,” replied fox, “then, yes.”

“But what if you don’t?” asked mouse. “Because I miss them, and that makes me sad.”

“Then, don’t,” explained fox, drawing mouse closer to the fire, and deeper into his arms.

***
Mobiles: Parts and pieces of a few December mobiles
***

Holidays have their own gravitational force, don’t they? One that puts you at the center, again and again.

History and place and people, orbiting;
Memories of once was, what could be, colliding in your Now;
Universes as unique as you, as me, rotating within.

Holidays are *just* another day, yet like magnets they pull at the core of you, molten iron at the center;
Focusing attention like a microscope on that which is and is not there anymore:

Loved ones.
Loved ones.
Loved ones.

Feelings like asteroids crash,
As suns rise and fall and rise again, on your hopes, on your dreams,
Hearts like stars, exploding – with happiness, with grief.

We create stories like atmospheres,
Offering supposed safety to those within these sacred days;
Of what “should” be, how we “should” feel, of what it “should” mean.

Yet absence like a hole in the ozone, changes everything; it’s hard to breathe without oxygen.

No matter what this day brings up in your universe, whether joy or pain or a mix of this and more:

- May you find peace – because you are a light and deserve no less.

- May you feel love – because even if it’s not by the one you’d want, you are loved.

- May you feel safe – because you are a treasure.

- May you feel worth and value – because you matter, always.

- May you feel hope – because, just because.

Sending a virtual hug to all and every.