Checking in with my capacity to be thankful

Unbelievably, just when we thought 2020 would never end, December is upon us. It’s kind of reassuring that whatever the year brings, this is always part of it too: mulled wine and baking, sparkly lights strung up around windows, goodies hidden at the backs of cupboards and secretive rustling behind closed doors. And yet, things are also very different this year, at least where I live. Social gatherings strictly curtailed, family visit cut down to a bare minimum, Christmas markets cancelled, restaurants closed through the new year. 

Definitely a work-in-progress…

Back in January, I picked Gratitude as my Word of the Year, blissfully unaware that 2020 would stretch that particular concept to its very limits. They say that being grateful reminds us of the universe’s ability to get things right, that it strengthens our belief in happy endings and gives us hope. Not sure about you, but I haven’t always found it easy to believe in the universe this year, and the version of Christmas ahead of us now hasn’t necessarily improved its reputation either. Still, Happy Endings is very much a concept I can get onboard with, being a writer and all, and so is Hope.

… Where baby steps are totally fine

It took me a little while, though, to realise that ‘Gratitude’ doesn’t have to come in flashy packaging or shiny, glitzy moments. That it’s more a matter of finding, every day, something that’s gone right. No more and no less. Untangling the chain of Christmas lights and discovering that someone thoughtfully taped spare bulbs to the plug the previous year. Cinnamon rolls rising obligingly into fluffy pillows of heaven. My son and his trumpet teacher playing Christmas duets via Skype. My husband making me an advent calendar from scratch. An unexpected ending to an unexpectedly good book. Line them all up, all these little bits, and they might just carry you safely through the holiday season and deposit you in a more hopeful, brighter new year.