Our Dance with Time

I realize seasons are geographically relative.  However, as an East Coast/Midwest fixture, I cannot help but appeal to my own sensibilities.  In the case of the holiday season, I find it somewhat entertaining that the warmth of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and new year fall at the deadest time of the year.  Just as the natural world decides to break for a brief sabbatical, ceasing to provide us the necessary sunshine and warm temperatures, we humans decide it's time for celebration, travels near and far for time together and a fresh start.  Amidst the cold and dreary backdrop of winter, we engage in retail therapy (an extended and largely guilt-free session given that we're often buying for others), culinary indulgences and many other forms of self-satisfaction. 

Is it possible that this is mere coincidence?  As a 29 year veteran of the wintertide, I must admit that I think it's fascinating and am not sure what this long, dreary season would be like without the predictable break from school/work, gift giving and receiving and, perhaps most of all, the new-found hope of the new year.  As the days and years seem to pass more quickly in pace, with the growth of technology and its expansion into virtually all areas of life, perhaps this time is the perfect time to stop and appreciate our origins and the time when not everything was quite so straightforward.  A time when stopping for reflection on the meaning of the present moment was one of the few options.  Before Facebook, iTunes, Netflix, Twitter or any number of the other more recent entries on our great stage demanded constant attention. 

While sometimes an intimidating dance partner, time can also be a great motivator, an inspiration and, more than anything, a great gift.  So, during this winter season, my hope is to fall better into step with time.  After three eventful decades, I figure it's the least I can do.