december: little joys

monthly creative curations on a theme

I can hardly believe we’re entering the final month of the year! When I was a kid, I remember adults droning on about how fast the months and years went by, and now I feel like a stereotype, puzzling at how fast time flies. December has always felt like a magical month… It’s the winter solstice/Yule on the 21st (which also happens to be my birthday), the winter spiritual/religious holidays, and New Year’s Eve. Yes, it can be a time of consumerism, stress, and grief, but I also see it as a time of taking inventory of what we’ve gained over this past year, of gathering, of gratitude, of celebration, and of renewal. I’d love to wrap those in brown paper packages tied up with strings and gift them to you today. 🎁

These round-up prism emails come out on the first day of every month, and they include my curations of music, art, fashion, beauty, and/or other areas of expression. The full content of the monthly posts (including an awesome monthly Spotify playlist!) is accessible only to paid subscribers, but everyone gets a generous peek below and can also unlock this post in a free trial if you absolutely must hear some soft wintry tunes. ❄️

In a time that feels increasingly complex, I’m going to keep it simple today. I’m going to list ten things that are making me smile, in hopes that you’ll find inspiration for your own joy here, too. (I’ve been smiling almost constantly for a week now.) It’s the little things, loves:

1. Our Yule tree: Yep, we put the tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving this year. It was a bittersweet time of decorating the tree with my sweet ex and our teenager, as this might be the last time the three of us engage in this tradition together, with our senior going to college next fall and other changes underway. After we hung the final ornament, we all shed a few tears. Maybe it’s the savoring of that special moment and all the memories of adorning our past 18 holiday trees together, but honestly, my joy has increased exponentially since my halls have been decked. There’s something about the twinkling lights and bottle brush trees on the mantel and my kitty constantly camped out under the tree that has been making me giddy.

   

2. Noticing magic: Every night of 2024, as I’m preparing for sleep, I have written just a couple lines in this journal I keep by my bedside. It’s my third year of keeping this journal, but in 2024, I did it in this specific way: Each day I wrote where I saw magic/the divine/god during that day. I suppose it’s a loose version of a gratitude journal, but those never stuck for me like this did. Because I knew I’d be recording it, I’d look for evidence of magic, of the divine in my daily life. What we pay attention to grows and magnifies. Highly recommend.

3. Cranberry sauce: This is my favorite cranberry sauce recipe, which I brought to our Friendsgiving this year:

   2 clementines

   2 packages of fresh cranberries

   2 cups sugar

   Slice clementines as thinly as possible. Place in a saucepan with the cranberries, sugar, and 1.5 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool in serving dish in the fridge for about 6 hours before serving.