I’m a little late to the solstice party, but I’ve been reading some interesting posts about solstice around the blogosphere. In all of them, there is an impetus to put the old year behind and to look toward the new. From here on out, the light grows. In spite of the cold that will envelope most of us, we know that spring will indeed come. The past two Christmases have been difficult for me for various reasons. Last year, I felt that I was in a year of transition. I was finishing the dissertation (finished a draft before the break), deciding on future career plans, coming out of a depression. The year before I had begun the slide into the depression, though I didn’t realize that until I was looking back on it.

This year, I feel like I’m in a good place. I regularly recognize how lucky I am. I have a wonderful family. I’m so very proud of my kids and of Mr. Geeky for all that they do. They are all truly kind people that I enjoy being around. I really like spending time with them and I hope that that’s the case for my kids as they get older. I feel truly blessed to have the financial stability to provide a good Christmas for them. When we asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, neither spit out a long list of stuff. In fact, both of them said that they really didn’t need anything and it wasn’t until we pushed a little that they came up with stuff.

That’s not to say we’re perfect and it certainly hasn’t been a perfect year. There have been ups and downs. There will always be ups and downs, but I’m looking forward to next year in a way that I haven’t in a quite a while.

Happy Winter Solstice everyone. May you, too, look forward to the days of light ahead.