Challenge

December. What does it mean to you?

This is one interesting month, at a chemical, psychological, and emotional level. Whether it is your interest in the contrast of lights vs. the earlier presence of the dark, the drama, or the good feelings that come from a cup of cheap hot chocolate, write about it. Poems, prose, fiction, non-fiction, lyrics, whatever works for you. Make me feel it.

Bits and Pieces

Chapter 8 of 33

Chris_Howe

Joyous December!

Happy Holidays!

This holiday season I would like to cheerfully proclaim the following:

We are all dying. Every day (depending on our situation) we take another tiny little baby step, or giant leap toward death.

We’re all going to die.

But we’re not dead now.

Billions upon Billions of people are dead though.

Aren’t we lucky?

Lucky to be alive I mean.

If I’m writing this, I must be alive. I must be breathing.

If you’re reading this, you must be alive. You must be breathing.

We are lucky!

But.....

Are we truly living?

What’s it like to live?

To Live?

To LIVE?

Are we truly breathing?

What’s it like to breathe?

To Breathe?

To BREATHE?

There are many ways to live.

Do we live life to its fullest?

In the moment?

9 to 5?

In the past?

There are many ways to breathe.

Have you tried meditation?

There are many ways to die:

We might die peacefully in our sleep.

Or, in the spirit of the season, we might:

Choke on one of those peppermint candies, so perfectly crafted at just the perfect diameter to lodge in the human throat.

DECK THE HALLS!

Or, we could get run over by a Zamboni driven by a jolly rink manager dressed as Santa Claus.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We could get impaled by a giant icicle dislodged by our neighbor as he istalls 35,688 glimmering, festive lights along the eaves of his house.

FELICE NAVIDAD!

We could even see in the new year by dying of alcohol poisoning at the best New Years party ever.

SHOULD OLD AQUAINTENCE........

If you’re going to parties, you might die from Covid this year. That’s not too festive. Stay Home.

Clearly, dying sucks.

But, being dead is super easy.

Billions of people are dead.

’Tis the season to be jolly!

Let’s do that!

Let’s BREATHE and LIVE joyfully in the present!

IS THAT TOO UPLIFTING?

Sooner, or later we will all be on our death beds. I can guarantee little in life, but I know this to be a certainty: When I’m on my deathbed, I’ll wish that I wasn’t. Will you?

Live with the living, or die with the dead?

It’s our choice.

Or, we can try to choose.

The way to live is to love.

Love and be loved by the living.

The dead are not coming back.

There’s no room for them here anyway.

Imagine all of our dead relatives showing up for Christmas dinner.

Should have bought a bigger roast. Or, a whole cow!

They are not sitting on a cloud.

I’ve been on airplanes. I know.

They are not watching us.

This gives me great comfort whenever I do anything naked.

They are not judging us.

We are forgiven. Or not. It’s our choice. They’re not talking.

Have you ever talked to a corpse?

Very one sided.

Let’s be positive. Forgiven.

We can still love them.

We should love them.

But remember:

They can not love us now.

They did love us.

THATS FOREVER!

They’ve moved on to whatever’s next.

It’s selfish, and self-defeating of us to expect them to give us more love.

Let’s move on.

Let’s live with the living!

Let’s love the living.

We’ll be dead soon enough.

Let’s LIVE!

Here!

Have a cookie!

Egg nog?

You look a bit pale.

Are you okay?

#happyholidays #joy #holidays #celebrate #christmas #death #dying #live #life