Dear December

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I know you get this all the time, but I can't believe you're here already.

In some ways, I'm more excited to see you than ever. The last couple of months have been an upward trend. I'm more excited about my creative projects than ever. I'm constantly coming up with new ideas and for the first time in my life, I'm not putting them off. Life kicked me in the butt, and I responded by becoming a badass. I'm telling you this because it's so new and compelling to me that I have to share. I hope you don't mind.

I'm doing whatever I need to do to launch my projects which usually means staying up way too late to write a little more, revise a little more, or submit one more piece to a literary journal. From that perspective, life is looking up.

On the other hand, I've been dreading the holidays, and what are you, December, but a sinkhole of holiday to-dos and expectations. I'm a little over it honestly. This is a point in my life in which everything is moving so quickly that it's hard to remember what the holidays are actually for, but I'm trying my best to get back in the right headspace. I've been a little self-absorbed in the past, and I'm ready to change that. December is the perfect time to get started. It seems like everyone is in a giving mood, and that alone makes me happy. I just need to focus on the lasting things and not the material. I need to remember all the hard situations I had to get through to make it to this point and appreciate the journey. Life is a mess, even in the moments when you feel like you have it together. I don't want to wait until I'm finally "put together" to look back and appreciate everything. I want to start now.

So, December, my goal is to keep moving forward, but not forget to look back and appreciate everything that got me here, the people who held me up and championed me along the way. It's a duality. The past informs the future of all the possibilities, and the future provides hope for the trials of the past. My experiences, good and bad, give my dreams of the future a new context. I know how far I've come, so I dream bigger after every milestone. To me, that's how you find the beauty in the day to day. You have to keep moving forward while giving thanks for what has passed.

Thank you, December, for the good I know you'll bring and the challenges you'll provide to help me grow. You're not half bad, really.

What are you anticipating for the month of December? Share what you're most excited about in the comments and let's talk about it.