So, somehow we have flipped the page and landed in 2022. I don’t know about you but I am totally ready for it, at least a part of me is. The problem I have is the same as I have every year, New Year same old Fibromyalgia.
A Tonic for the Holiday Excesses
I don’t know about you but I have always loved the New Year feeling. It is the perfect counter to the festive excesses. Let’s be honest how often do we tell ourselves, go on, it’s Christmas (feel free to exchange with your own holiday). This can be in relation to eating treats, purchasing something indulgent (if you have the funds) or allowing ourselves to (place down, not drop) all the balls we are juggling, plates we are spinning, you get the idea… the rest of the year, and just put our feet up and relax.
Let’s add to this the fact that the Christmas Celebrations seem to be getting earlier. I think this is very much influenced by our American Cousins. As a child, I seem to remember that there was no real evidence of Christmas until Advent began. At that point, the preparations began for Christmas but no excesses were partaken until usually Advent 4. Christmas Carols were being sung and the season had arrived.
The Thanksgiving Effect
Over time as culturally we become more entwined thanks to films (movies) and of course the internet, which for all its faults allows us to grow friendships amongst all the toxic wasteland. We see you and we learn about Thanksgiving. Our nearest event to this is the Harvest Festival which usually takes place about October but within cities, it is usually completely overlooked other than at Churches and Schools. Thanksgiving, (my introduction to this was the film Miracle on 34th Street still one of my faves thanks to the acting chops of Richard Attenborough and the visual delight of Dylan McDermott) seems to now be the perfect time to begin all things Christmas in the secular sense.
The New Year Frenzy
No sooner have we enjoyed Christmas, which here in the UK tends to carry on through to New Years Day are we hit by the New Year Frenzy and by that I am referring to the blog posts, videos, social media posts and books that are all about improving ourselves. This year I haven’t participated in this, I am writing this instead.
The Mental Stimulation of a New Year
As I mentioned at the beginning, a part of me is really up for the new year feeling. When you read my 2019 Clarity Organisation Plan, (an endeavour that was partly successful) you will see that mentally I throw myself into the hopes and dreams of all that a New Year could bring. I love it and lap up all the content I can and look out for inspiration. However, sadly there is more than the mental aspect to take into account.
The Physical Reality come the New Year
The problem with the New Year is that I am living with the same old Fibromyalgia. The symptoms have not disappeared. Let’s add to that the fact that nine months of 2021 have been affected by the side effects of Vaccines, I talked about the first one in this post. Then went on to mention in my microblog the problem with the booster jab.
A few years ago I spoke to a medical person at one of my appointments who said sadly things would probably get worse. This was within my first couple of years of diagnosis and I believed at that time, by removing the stress of paid employment I might have outsmarted the syndrome in some way and got one foot in front of it. We live and we learn…
Seasonable Weather
Another problem of the New Year is that it comes in the heart of Winter for those of us in the Western Hemisphere. Of course, the weather plays a key role when it comes to Fibro symptoms. So it really isn’t the most convenient time for it. However, as I have been reminded while I have been busy working on my Genealogy and been busy on WikiTree. The new year used to begin on the 25th of March a few centuries ago.
This ties in nicely with spring cleaning. So perhaps if I allow myself to consider the period between the 1st of January and the 25th of March as the New Year I may just manage to begin making some of the changes that the New year encourages you to… Let’s not forget that Easter is just around the corner too though… and here we get to the heart of the matter.
There is always something, if it is not a seasonal celebration it is the Fibro causing problems. How easy is it to disassociate your day to day reality from the framework that is laid out when your body can’t conform to the expectations? Yet still each year and each holiday the light bulb pings on and brings a sense of expectation.
Until next time,
Gentle Hugs,
Susan
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