Holiday Cheer

I always laugh when I walk into a store or shop of any consequence and see immediately after Halloween, Christmas decorations. What happened to Thanksgiving? Do we completely ignore our beloved day of thanks? Can we just skip the blissful traditional overindulgence in food and snooze? I think not. Bring on the Pie and cranberry sauce and if you are so inclined to partake in the cerimonial turkey, be ware of the tryptophan-induced coma that will most assuredly follow. So we overeat and sleep and overeat some more, herein lies our most decidedly "I'm starting my diet next week" Holiday. Even with the vast array of treats and sundries guaranteed to leave you groggy and longing for my favorite sweats, ultimately, I am left with the feeling that besides being awestruck at the sheer devastation that was once a heavily ladden buffet table, carefully adorned in festive, albiet somewhat kitchy decor, a simple unfettered gratitude for all things family. My eyes wander to my loved ones and I am once again reminded of how blessed I am for the incredible people that surround me and the wonderful life I have been given. I watch my family gather around eating and laughing with reckless abandon, and in that moment, all seems right in the world..

What's in a Name?

What's in a name? We put so much weight on names in our society. what to name our kids or what brand name of laundry detergent to use. Everything we do is somehow tied to a name. Does our name define us? Are we more gifted or priveledged because of our name? Hardly. I can tell you that names are tied to memories. I have met people and thought oh I once knew someone with that name and every memory, good, bad or indifferent came along with it. We attach some sort of predisposition to the names of the people around us. What if we did not have names and referred to ourselves and each other simply as "child" or "loved one" or "friend" I wonder what possibilities would await if there were no classification or distinction and we could just be who we are.