making peace

I've had a publicly difficult relationship with the month or so following Christmas. Growing up December 26 was the Worst of All the Days, because that meant that all the anticipation and advent and merriment were over. And I was rarely fooled by New Year's. New Year's Eve and Day just aren't as fun, and if you pretend otherwise, you're lying.

The past couple of years, though, I've finally started to make some peace with the last week in December. I can't definitively say the same for January, but if I can move past my childhood dread of the end of December, then maybe someday I can make good with January too.

Adulthood has introduced me to the frantic aspects of December. While I did make a point to step back throughout the month and simply enjoy the season, I admit to liking this liminal period before reality hits hard next week. We've had an easy dose of routine mixed with a healthy amount of vacation mode. My to-do lists have dwindled, replaced by brainstorming and daydreaming about what 2015 will bring.

I started reading the Outlander series, which I've seen pop up on some of my favorite blogs over the past year. It's adventurous and intriguing, with a dose of smut thrown in for good measure. It's delightful vacation reading, and now that I'm fully immersed in the 18-century Scottish Highland, I keep calling Asher "my wee bairn." So. (Knowing that I have seven more books after this first one makes me feel giddy. Is this what it feels like to read Harry Potter straight through for the first time?)

My in-laws gifted me an online script lettering class for Christmas, and now I'm itching to get my hands on some good graphite pencils so I can start practicing. I went to Michael's today to pick up some basic supplies and was so underwhelmed by the brand selection and appalled at the prices, that I'm just going to order them on Amazon instead.

I like having this week after Christmas to slow down and dawdle out the rest of the year. Giving my mind and heart a rest has been oh so good for me. How do you feel about the end of the year? Have your attitudes about it changed as you've gotten older?

Happy New Year!

December's liminality

Liminal space is a term I learned as an English major, and I'd use a different word to avoid sounding pretentious, but there really isn't a different word to use. So I'll just describe it to you. Liminality is the point in between two other spaces. In my literature classes it was used to describe the point of a character's transformation, or even as a physical space that separated one world from another. (Think that place in the Deathly Hallows where Harry goes when Voldemort curses him at the end.)

{In Renaissance literature, forests were often employed as liminal space}

{via}

For me, the end of December is always liminal. It's not Christmas anymore, and it's not the new year. It's just in between, a place where we're still on vacation but not caught up in the whirl of Christmas preparations. It's usually relaxing and sometimes melancholy. It's a time to wind down and recharge.

Our Christmas was lovely and fun and gracious. Asher has pulled out all the stops on cuteness and has everyone in the family completely charmed. I've been spending time with my sisters and got to Skype with my missionary brother on Christmas day. We've been playing with new Christmas toys and eating pie in between servings of cinnamon rolls. This year's liminality has been quiet and unadventurous, just the way I like it. January can hold off a little longer if I have anything to do with it.