Some people love these end-of-year holidays. Some can’t stand them. No matter what your own feelings are, few would deny that this particular year has been very hard.
The rise and fall and re-rising of COVID, American democracy in peril, extreme weathers and fires telling us unequivocally that climate change is no longer a future threat but a clear and present danger—and all these large woes added onto the personal worries and challenges and griefs that each of us has to cope with.
Yet the fundamental premise of Radical Joy for Hard Times remains this:
No matter what you’re going through, it is always possible to find and make beauty.
Here are a few simple tips for finding and making beauty during the holidays—and always:
- Make it a point to locate beauty in the natural world every single day.
- And then, when you find it, don’t rush past. Pause and take it in.
- Someone today could use your help. Offer it—to a stranger, a friend, a loved one.
- In the morning, tell yourself, Something magical will happen today. Then be on the lookout for it!
- Stop and notice what the sky is doing right now.
- Where is the moon? Keep track of the lunar phases. No matter what else is going on in the world, the moon is consistently, magnificently reliable.
- Be on the lookout for what is marvelous and unique about the people in your life—and then point that out to them.
- Remember who and what you love.
Image Credit:
- IMG 0407: Trebbe Johnson
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