Holiday season...

With the holiday season fast upon us, we will turn to more time watching television, with much of that time on sports events. Already there are ads about reviews of the year. This reminds me of the holiday season of 2001. I closed down all incoming messages and words, no TV, no newspapers. It was a time of “hiding” and a time that I indulged myself with music.

I had been deeply disturbed by 9/11. That event was perhaps the most traumatic of my life. I need to explain. After the first plane hit one of the towers, I received a phone call from a friend asking me to turn on my TV. I did so and shortly after I saw the second plane hit the other tower. In a split second, the full impact of the event struck home. It was not the deaths of all those on the aircraft and those who died instantly but my immediate thought was that of the families of those who died, the parents, siblings, children, all their relatives and friends who would suffer so much. That thought was overpowering. Later, news programs did show the event repeatedly. I just had too much and when it came time to see the major news items at the end of the year, I did not want to participate in any viewing. I turned off and out. Music turned out to be good medicine.

This year, I am looking forward to the summary of the major news events, apart from the American election, the lead up to that event and the outcomes. I did have too much of that. Perhaps another reason for looking forward to the historical reviews is that for two months of the summer I was away from all news that I could understand. The major languages that I heard were Croatian, Italian, Turkish and a lot of Greek, as each of the other languages that I heard was certainly “Greek” to me. It was nevertheless quite refreshing to be away from news of the war in Iraq, crimes in the cities, corrupt politics and the general ills of the world.

This year I am looking forward to seeing some sports events on television, something that I have been away from for too long. I will indulge myself somewhat but there is no doubt that there must be limits! As well, I will be spending time with family and friends. The spiritual side of my existence will also captivate some time. This will be a time of meditation and prayer, a time of thought with a return to my “deeper” self, for renewal and thanksgiving, a time for calming the spirit with walks in the woods, communing with nature, a time to celebrate the season and to live!