When the Light Goes Out

        It's January.  Time to think about something new.  This is not a "new year resolution" but simply something I realized as I was going about, and thought I'd share with you.

        Now that the flurry and * warm-fuzzies * of the Holidays are somewhat finished and faded, I'd like to submit for your consideration that perhaps we* tend to overlook one, subtle fact.  We try so hard during the Holidays to make things warm, comfortable, and inviting; and we try to connect with friends and family near and far; and even do what we can to help strangers have a better season, through donations or gifts to programs, and even service to places like soup kitchens and shelters for the homeless, and so on.  We really try to help spread the "warm feelings of the season" as far and wide as we are able. 

        And then the Holidays are over and life goes back to its normal routine, and for a while we carry that lovely feeling that we still have when it does, but eventually it's done and we're back to normal, too.  But for this reason, and perhaps others:

I think January is the hardest month of all.

Just think about it for a moment.  

        There is a song by composer Michael McLean called "I Cry the Day I Take the Tree Down."  The basic premise of the song with regard to my point is generally about how love touches the season to make it what it truly is, and once done, it's done for another year.  Those for whom that love, light, and warmth shared during that time can be uplifting and healing can be left feeling at the very least a bit flat, cold, and empty, even in the Southern Hemisphere where summer reigns! 

        For me in particular, I live in a climate that from around November to February the weather is typically gray, snowy, and often very cold.  The days are short and the daylight is faded even on the brightest days, and many of us are affected by the seasonal shift in the light and warmth.  Since the turning calendar settles right in the middle of this time of year, when the Holidays are over there is this sinking into the darkness left when lights and candles are packed away until the season rolls 'round again. 

        All I generally get to do for the Holidays is have someone help me make a simple meal fitting my laughable dietary restrictions; I put up a tiny tree with a few lights and some ornaments I've either made or gathered over the years, and that's about it.  But those lights.  Those lights are the one thing that matters most, for me.  I'm not sure why, but the beauty of that image is what warms my inner being and helps me feel that inner glow, such that it is. 

        But then, it's both funny and annoying that that song comes to mind, every time Christmas is over and I'm prepping myself to get to taking it down.  "I cry the day that I take the tree down.  I want the season to last all year round..."  Just so it's said, I don't typically cry taking it down.  It isn't a long process and it's done possibly as quickly as the spirit of the season seems to fade out by January 2. 

However, that is my point.

        All those hearts having been touched and warmed by the "Season of Light", and it gets blown out by the end of the year.  And it's hardest for those who are once again forgotten and left to their own misery.  Food banks and shelters go back to struggling to help those who can't help themselves.  Funding and volunteers for service projects dwindles or fades altogether.  The rejected, forgotten, and lonely are left to their own searching for physical and emotional survival.  It doesn't have to be below freezing to be cold.  It can be the kind of cold I mean, even in a burning desert or steaming rain forest. 

I think January is the hardest month of all.

        I don't know the statistics.  I only know from my own, inner experience, and that of those who have been willing to share theirs with me.  And I'm not giving out tickets for guilt trips, either.  I'm just sharing something I've been pondering, and maybe suggesting that we all think about it a little bit.  Maybe there is a way we can help affect the world around us, even in little ways, to help keep the hearts of the brokenhearted healing, and the love of the world growing, no matter the time of year?  Maybe it really is up to us, even if we think we have nothing to give?  Sometimes those who feel they have nothing, need help to find and use what they do have.  Maybe that could be what we have to give? 

        Just a thought to share.  Maybe we can share our thoughts together, and see what comes of it?  Blogger has made it nearly impossible for me to post comments to posts, here, but I am actively responsive on The PB Community Facebook Page, so you're very welcome to comment to the post of which I'll be sharing this link.

        Better days ahead, my friends!

(* "We" being a general term, and not anyone in particular, of course.)