I’m not really a fan of being called a ‘grinch’ just because I don’t celebrate western Christmas or even the Gregorian New Year. I’m not particularly offended by it, mind you, but I also don’t love it. Each to their own. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve just not really been one to celebrate either of those things, or even my own birthday for that matter.
As an aside, our calendar was introduced by Pope Greg in 1852 and let’s be honest, it’s a bit fucked isn’t it cause they have to chuck an extra day in every now and then – including this year – to even everything out a bit. Fucked if I know who actually invented Christmas, and who just sort of nicked it to suit their purposes. But you know, different people around the world celebrate different things at different times and I’m cool with all of them. When I lived in Cambodia, for example, I still took the public holidays for all sorts of things even though I had no real idea what half of them were – including Fish Day. Which, to be fair, wasn’t actually a holiday as far as I can recall.
The local spoggies (house sparrows) are definitely fans of the new bird bath.
But far from being a grinch, which refers to someone who’s a bit of a killjoy, I actually find joy almost everywhere, all the time. For quite a few years now I’ve left a bowl of water out for the feathered ones and made some quite good feathered friends. Since I moved house about a year ago though, I’ve struggled to make friends at my new place. With the stupidly hot weather we’ve had lately though, I’ve added an actual proper bird bath for the ones that don’t feel comfy coming down to ground level, and the last few days I’ve had no end of joy watching the local spoggies and even a ninja-like blackbird come in for a drink. (The new holland honey eaters seem to prefer flying through the sprinkler.) And I’m not even joking when I say as I sit here in my office writing and I watch them come in for a drink, it literally brings me so much joy I could cry. (Perhaps it’s manopause?) So yeah, I get plenty of joy without needing to be overly fussed about what date it is, who invented which calendar or which special event.
A very hot and thirsty common blackbird breaks cover to come in for a drink and a splash.
And then there’s this amazing gift I received from a lovely friend. I very, very rarely plug things, even when I’m asked (or offered money or bribes!), because that’s not how I roll, but gonna plug this ‘No Bad Vibes’ hand drawn print from Lola&Gypsy because… well… obviously. It’s fucking lovely. And yes, I know said I don’t really celebrate these ‘special event days’, but that doesn’t mean other people can’t and gift me things if they really want to. 😂 For me, I’m way more likely to send you a message or a gift just because, then because I’m obliged.
This No Bad Vibes print is from Lola&Gypsy
And even though I don’t really make new year ‘resolutions’ as such, I’m always plotting and planning and dreaming and scheming and I do like to have some vague goals, (that I can mostly ignore and do absolutely nothing about), and I also like to have general ‘themes’ of things I’d like to do more (or less) of… and one for 2020 is to still be me, still be opinionated, still be outrageous and at times outraged, but also to pick and choose where I invest my energy a little more wisely. So perhaps there’ll still be some bad vibes, but ‘Less Bad Vibes’ doesn’t really have the same ring to it, does it? 🙄😂 You can pretty safely assume I’ll still get worked up about things and say ‘fuck’ a lot, but will be doing my best to focus on positives, on solutions, on change and on… nice stuff. At least whenever I can.
Be awesome to each other.
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