Nearly everyone with whom I find myself having long conversations* has at some time fallen into a kind of holidays era depression strong enough to take the comic edge off of Philip Larkin's "This be the Verse" (NSFW). The inevitable clash between promise and experienced reality is exacerbated by difficult family dynamics (even with respect to those we've lost) that seem to generally be our lot as rather depraved sentient beings.
But there is grace too, and every Christmas I find that watching the following** comforts my inner Larkinism.
Anyhow, here's a late wish to anyone reading this blog for a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Saturnalia/Festivus/Winter Break/Solstice etc. etc. etc. filled with genuine grace.
[Notes:
*Selection bias!
**I know it's schmaltzy, but I don't care. Beauty and truth just are sometimes schmaltzy and we ignore this in our own aesthetic practice at great peril. Johnny Cash himself in fact knew and lived much of his life in that schmaltz and anyone listening to his albums gains insight into the value of schmaltz.]
Recent Comments