Ponderings and Musings

Even though we’re still in the first half of December, I’ve been thinking about the New Year. I have mixed feelings about the approach of 2025. The political landscape is almost certain to be chaotic and I believe society will unfortunately follow suit with that chaos. It will be difficult to wall off that celebrated idiocy, and it’s going to take a lot of personal bandwidth to maintain a one’s sanity in this environment. I’m prepared to handle these circumstances, and the primary driver for that will be by being the calm one in the room.

This has not always been my strong suit.

I was recently listening to “The Daily Stoic” podcast by Ryan Holiday. He was discussing New Year’s Resolutions with author James Clear, and during the conversation he mentioned to James that he focuses on a word to define the New Year. It’s a short little reminder of his area of focus for the year. I like this approach and I’m going to try it out.

There’s one word that seems to fit my mindset at the moment. I don’t know if it’ll be the “word of the 2025” for my approach to life, but it’s in the short list of contenders for the chore. The word is determination.

As life moves forward and the folks around us do their thing, it’s important that we concentrate on “our thing”. Focus on that we can control. The stuff we can’t control? Let it do what it’s going to do and if it’s going to affect us in some way, be determined to let that effect be a positive effect.

2025 is going to take a lot of determination. I’ll be ready for it.

I decided to give my holiday spirit a kick by putting up on more Christmas tree. I picked up a couple sets of vintage lights on ebay. One set was still in its original packaging. I figured after waiting 45 years this set deserved to be on a Christmas tree so I installed them this evening.

Instead of going back east to visit folks for the holidays, we flew Mom here for her first trip to Arizona. She navigated her United flights through Denver just fine, apparently chatted with folks seated around her, and is now relaxing here at the Desert Compound.

She just enjoyed her first Arizona sunset.

I stumbled upon this video on YouTube this morning and watched it in its entirety. It’s all about why we all seem to be losing our focus.

It’s worth your attention.

In this day and age of instant gratification, everyone wants everything right now. Being able to order something online at 8:00 AM and getting it delivered by 5:00 PM is awesome. But then when we get cranky when it doesn’t work.

I have been looking for a small artificial tree for my home office. I’d like to have a little bit of something in the background of my Zoom/Teams calls to bring some merriment to the experience. In addition, I wanted a constant reminder as to what season it is, because even though we’ve lived here for even four years, when I look out over the desert landscape I still think it’s some time in July.

I have a plan for this little tree in my office; a plan that will warrant a separate blog entry when the whole affair comes together. In the meanwhile, I have been on the search for an artificial tree, and more specifically, an *unlit* artificial tree.

They are not easy to find.

Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Lowe’s… they all have plenty of trees with plenty of LED lights already installed. We have a tree or two that has non-functioning lights on a very functioning tree, so we end up putting more lights around the lights that don’t work. I don’t want to get into that situation again with this tree. So I’ve been on the hunt for an unlit artificial tree.

I finally found one on Target.com, and it’s only sold through target.com. UPS reports it will arrive on Friday. I like that. It’ll give me some time to get the tree up and still have a few weeks of enjoyment. I trust UPS more than the United States Postal Service these days. I’ve seen stories of packages going from Nashville to Seattle by way of Puerto Rico. I recently had a package take five days to get from Phoenix to Tucson. I know I-10 can get backed up at times, but that’s ridiculous. And yes, I know it’s the busy season.

I’m looking forward to when the tree arrives and I’m looking forward to bringing the festive vibe to my office. Even if it’s only July.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Not only do we normally have a most excellent meal, but we often have friends join us for the festivities. This year one of the best people I know in the whole wide world joined us for Thanksgiving for dinner.  scott and I haven’t seen each other in nearly a dozen years, but we’ve kept contact via digital means. Our paths finally crossed today and it was like a day had not gone by. We are not going to wait another dozen years to see one another.

The family chefs made an excellent meal, we had great conversation, and it has been a most wonderful day.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

l to r: Mike, Chris, Jamie, Earl, Scott, Me

I have been focusing on the gratitude I have for my life. This is rather a broad statement, but in a world that seems to focus on the negative, in these times it’s important for me to focus on the positive. People voted in the U.S. elections for negative reasons. I figure the way to figure this negativity is to be thankful for all that’s right in the world and put as much positivity as possible out there.

Sometimes I find this a difficult thing to do.

As part of my daily journaling practice I’ve been specifically writing down a recognition of the gratitude I’ve felt during the day, no matter how big or small. Even the smallest steps forward are still a step forward.

I’m good with that.

Today I’m grateful for having this blog and having the fortitude to share my feelings out loud like this. I don’t know if anyone reads these entries, and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than going to a therapist. But if my words make even one person smile today, then I’ve shared some positive energy.

And we need all we can get.