December Delights – Day 29!

As we head into the final few days of the year, I think it’s important to carefully consider this past year. We will return to ponder this extraordinary year in the future as well, but it’s a good idea to start looking at what was as we look forward to the new year that is coming. While none of us ever expected the twists and turns brought by this year, there have been some very positive aspects of it. I think it’s easy – too easy – to focus on the negatives (and 2020 had an overabundance of those!). It’s harder to tease out the good things that happened this year, especially in the face of so many people who have lost jobs, businesses, and loved ones. I certainly don’t mean to be flippant about that, but it may help to take a look at this list for some of the positives that took place this year.

For today’s worthy charity, I’m just going to suggest an overall category – education. Whether you donate to a college or university that is important to you, or donate to a local K-12 school, or donate to a charity that focuses on education for adults, or special needs children, or getting city kids out to the country to see where lettuce comes from – all of these had hard times this year as the pandemic made a sudden shift to online education necessary and revealed that internet access needs to be seen as a necessity (much like electricity and running water) instead of being viewed as a luxury.

For my Diva drill today, I had an acupuncture appointment. I was deeply skeptical even the second time my Western-trained oncologist suggested it as a way to counter the side effects of a cancer treatment drug. Over the course of about four months, I became a True Believer. I really suggest you seek out a good practitioner of this time-honored treatment. I have seen genuine improvement in my stress level, sleeping patterns, and managing flare-ups of  foot and hand pain. Here in my part of the Sticks, I use the wonderful staff at All Seasons, but plenty of places can be found wherever you are. 

From the bookshelf today, I’m suggesting Leslie Levine’s Ice Cream for Breakfastwhich is a lovely collection of 52 ways (one for each week of the coming year!) to break the rules and live a happier, more satisfied life as you (re)discover ways to play. You could do worse than making this little book a guide for 2021.

Speaking of which, for my “holiday celebrating” today, I went to a discount store and picked up a few items on Monday’s “post-mortem” list – the lights and ribbon were half off, and for just a few dollars, I picked up a wall calendar that has an offbeat holiday for each and every day of the coming year. I figure at some time I’ll need an excuse to celebrate and – when that day comes – it’ll be good to know when Unicorn Day (Apr. 9) or International Strange Music Day (Aug. 24) is. (Two more worth noting are Feb. 6 [“Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day”] and May 24 [International Tiara Day]. Just a friendly reminder!)

See you tomorrow!


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