Life as I know it...

I usually LOVE Christmas. I mean, really love it. My house always looks like Santa threw up in it and I’m annoyingly chipper and happy. I surprise people with presents, I visit old friends, I rejoice in the snow. Christmas lights make me smile and singing Christmas carols at the top of my lungs makes me feel free (though quite obnoxious to everyone else). This year feels so different and I’m not really sure why. I’m trying everything I can to “catch the spirit”. I am listening to the music and podcasts. I am shopping up a storm, making sure to find the perfect presents for everyone on my list. I’m watching countless stupid Hallmark movies where the one attractive female and one attractive male hate each other at the beginning of the movie but somehow fall madly in love on Christmas day and have a magical kiss as the snow falls… over and over again. I try not to throw up in my mouth, and then power through another one. I’m trying. But so far I’ve become more jaded than usual. I’m

There’s no question that I’m getting “seasoned” and often I’m a little out of the loop with cool kids’ jargon. I pretended for months that I knew exactly what FOMO was… but eventually I sucked up my pride and googled it. Feelings of Missing Out. I snorted. How on Earth does anyone think this is a new concept? We weren’t clever enough to come up with “FOMO” back in the day when we didn’t make the cut for a birthday party or got B Listed for a wedding – but I can assure you, feelings of missing out is a   timeless concept. Social media and the World Wide Web ensures that we all have FOMO sometimes. Everyone is doing something cool. Scroll through the ‘Gram and you will definitely feel like that world is spinning along without you. For me, I will see pics of happy looking people doing happy kinds of activities and part of my brain smiles while the other part pouts like a 3 year old.   Good for so-and-so having all the fun… without sarcasm or cynicism of course. Just pure joy and hap