It's New Year's Eve.
In many parts of the world, it is already 2026; here on the US west coast we are "laggards" and among the last to welcome the new year.
We're taking it easy; our family tradition calls for takeout Chinese food on New Year's Eve and then the annual "Shrimp Boil" on the afternoon of New Year's Day. Like many holidays, we tend to make ours about food.
It's quiet and perhaps not terribly festive, but none of us are really the loud party types.
In service of not moping around too much, there's not all that much to say about 2025 other than "it was a challenging year." Seems like I have been saying that pretty much every year since 2021... and I'm not even sure what a "normal" year looks like, anymore.
Maybe "kinda shitty" is merely the "new normal."
Earlier today, Mrs. Denmarkguy and I were having a conversation about life (as we often do!) and she noted that her counseling calendar for January is already close to fully booked and we're not even in January, yet.
She feels that's it's a statement about the general state of the world that so many people are seeking counseling. I suppose it's a good thing from the perspective of being able to pay our bills, but not such a good thing from the perspective of how things are going in the world. A lot of people seem genuinely concerned that their lives are going to end up totally screwed.
As I like to say (over and over!) I'm not making any New Year's Resolutions, but I am planning to use 2026 to develop a better and sharper focus on what truly matters, and spend less time wallowing around in busy work and things that really aren't that relevant... and yet I diligently keep doing them because (largely) of the habit of doing them.
I expect it's a pattern many of us fall into... and we forget to pause and consider "how is this thing I keep doing REALLY serving me?"
In many cases, I find that it's not. At least not very much. It just consumes time, and perhaps distracts us from looking directly at things we'd rather not look at.
While a lot of things might be going sideways, it helps that I can always find things to be grateful for:
- Sunsets
- Good Coffee
- Cats
- The beauty of nature
- Growing things in the garden
- Journaling
- Music
- An unexpected windfall from an eBay sale
- Freshly baked bread
My frequent companions when I work
That list is a poignant reminder that it is often the small things that matter the most.
Probably a worthwhile thing to remember, for 2026!
Thanks for stopping by, and Happy New Year to all!
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Created at 2025.12.31 21:00 PST
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