Kevin Today is Christmas Day, and so I thought I’d drop in to wish anyone who reads this a Happy Holidays for 2024. Last weekend, on Sunday, was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.
I was at a free movie, and wasn’t feeling so great, so I left early. It was a movie I’d seen before, so I knew how it went. Besides, I needed to get home so I could have my shower, and also my evening routine. As I was walking home, I noticed the sun was setting earlier, having forgotten that Sunday was the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
I’m spending my holiday season recovering from a wisdom tooth extraction, since we were only able to get one out instead of two. My first two were pulled in college, and I don’t remember getting stitches that time. I’m pretty sure I’d remember something like that, haha. I wanted to go see a movie, but I just wasn’t feeling up to duking out the walk or the bike ride there.
So I stayed in, and watched some old Christmas cartoons, like the Fleischer Studios public domain stuff. Now I got the Pluto TV channel, Home for the Holidays channel on as background noise, and I’m about to hit the hay for my summer job tomorrow.
Now that Christmas has come but once a year, and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are coming up, it’s on like Donkey Kong. Sure, the holiday season is a happy time of year for many out there. For some, however, this isn’t the case for whatever reason. My holiday seasons weren’t memorable to say the least, but this year, I’m feeling a sense of peace.
For anyone out there who’s holiday season has been a mess, I want y’all to know that I give a damn. I’m sorry you’re in this shitty place, and I hope that whoever’s done you so rotten is out of your life soon. If you’re in a place where you need help, here’s some resources that may be of help.
For any Veterans, here’s the Veterans’ Crisis Line.
For those overseas in the UK and Ireland, here’s the Samaritans.
As an aside, if you reach out to any of these groups, and whoever you’re talking to doesn’t seem to take you seriously, do yourself and your mental health a favor and end the call or chat. If you feel safe doing so, tell me what happened, so I can warn others. If it’s seriously egregious, then I will no longer recommend them as a resource going forward.
That being said, since Sunday was the Winter Solstice, this means that brighter and longer days are ahead, and the holiday season will be over. Daylight will be longer and longer by a few minutes each day again soon. It’s always darkest before dawn, as the old saying goes.
We’ll make it through December. We’re gonna get through this.
