The Zen of the Pause

The day after Christmas there’s this cosmic exhale.  It’s like a switch flips from the hysteria of the holidays to thinking about the New Year to come and cleaning up the mess of the old.  It’s the time of not doing, not shopping, not cooking, and not decorating.  It’s a time of regrouping.  It’s a good time to read, reflect, and rest.

Austin Kleon calls it Dead Week.  I prefer to call it the Pause, the little grace period between old and new.  So as I pause, I wish all my readers, the ones I know and the ones I’ve yet to meet…

                          HAPPY PAUSE!

                                   See you all in 2023

The Gifts of December

“the comfort of reclusion, the poetry of hibernation”
― Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way

This is a bit of a holiday card to all my readers.  I am going on a “blogcation, a bit of a hibernation you might say to immerge after the first of the year refreshed with new ideas and new direction.  In this 12th month, the time of pause, I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a rejuvenating New Year!

Alanna

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Beyond the sparkling lights

Apples hang in winter’s chill

Red ornaments on leafless branches

That brighten the sleeping orchard

A flutter of chickadees gather about the feeder

Giving me pause to cherish

The gifts of December