My favourite time of the year

I'm sitting writing this at my favourite time of the year. The gap between Christmas and New Year, when much of the world just stops. The crazy time leading into Christmas is finished, stuff is bought, wrapped and sent and Christmas day is done. And in this gap, before whatever happens at New Year we can all take a breath, reflect and digest the pile of food we've eaten.

It is more than a holiday - it is an absence of expectations. I have been fortunate to work in places which mostly or entirely shut down over the Christmas period so unlike a week's leave, I don't have to worry about everyone else generating work while I'm away. The days are short, and the weather is cold and wet so I don't feel I should be outside or productive.

In short, it is the one time of the year I can sit back and do nothing and not feel guilty about it.

In many ways, this feels to me similar to how my brain works. Most of the time everything is gogogo - I can jump to something else, but not stop entirely. But just occasionally I find some actual peace and the noise and the pressure (real or imaginary) just stop for a while. For once, this is less about my own inability to rest (and I am very bad at resting) and more about the world granting a socially-sanctioned pause - that is, giving permission to just stop.

This is clearly a ponder to end the year. I think we underestimate how much of our stress comes from ambient expectations, not workload - and how rare it is to be allowed to truly stop. When it happens, it feels great.

Happy new year everyone.