Dear Seasons That Shift Beneath Us,
Every December, something interesting happens:
we return to the same traditions,
the same plans,
the same rituals,
the same expectations –
as if time hasn’t changed us at all.
But the truth is, every year we approach the holidays as different people.
A little older.
A little wiser.
A little more tired.
A little more awake.
Some years, the traditions fit us like a familiar sweater.
Other years, they feel tight at the shoulders, itchy at the neck,
stretched out in ways we can’t quite name.
And that’s okay.
Because traditions aren’t meant to freeze us in place –
they’re meant to evolve with us.
The ground beneath us shifts every year,
whether we acknowledge it or not.
Families change.
Loss changes us.
Growth changes us.
Life itself rearranges the furniture in our hearts.
But instead of adjusting our traditions,
we often try to force ourselves to fit the old mold.
As if honoring the past means refusing to grow.
What if it doesn’t?
What if honoring the past means allowing it to breathe?
To stretch?
To soften?
To transform into something that fits who we are now
– not who we were then?
You’re allowed to question the rituals you inherited.
You’re allowed to reshape the ones you created.
You’re allowed to let go of the ones that no longer bring joy,
and nurture the ones that still stir something gentle inside you.
Shifting ground is not instability –
it’s life.
It’s growth.
It’s proof that you are becoming more fully yourself.
So if this December feels different…
not wrong, just different –
maybe it’s because you are standing in a new place,
with a new heart,
a new story,
and new wisdom you couldn’t have had before.
Traditions will find their new shape.
You will too.
That’s not losing the past.
That’s carrying it forward in a truer way.
🎄
~ The Radical Left