On holidays, nesting, yoga, and belonging… a hodge podge no doubt Chatting with a good friend recently about the purposed “heteronormative dating world,” he reflected on the perhaps unprecedented or surprising number of tinder/bumble/dating site “matches” he received lately. Without trying to undermine the excitement of potential new mates, my cynism couldn’t help but suggest that this may be a response to the holiday season and the human desire to nest. I think there are two parts to this desire; the first, and most cynical, acknowledges that many people will be going home to family over the next weeks to months and like most single people are, will be faced with the inevitable questions of dating, settling down, and in less blunt terms, procreating. The other part, however, is that regardless of your situation and the amount of family you are surrounded by, the holidays can bring an incredible weight and loneliness. You wonder if you have shown enough love, if you have written someone off who needed you, if you have been as selfless as you should have and as grateful as possible in return. This holiday is overflowing with all of these sentiments within my blood and extended family. It has undoubtedly been a bear of a year for all of us. MY goal, and one I hope to share, is that we not let the loneliness and angst of the days to come interfere with our capacity to love and recognize the needs of our loved ones, past and present. This was all formulating in my head during the quiet time preceding yoga, my first class since a whirlwind travel season and minor shoulder injury. The class was full of energy and mantras I repeated to myself dozens of times in hopes of remembering them (to no avail, of course). The general theme was two-fold; the sense of belonging to a community or space and being accepted as you are without expectation of perfection and being thankful for the less obvious or the things just below the surface. These are my hopes for this year. With all of the movement and change, I hope to find peace in what is, accept the transformations of relationships and life as they come, and manage to support those around me as it happens. I know there was more I wanted to say but for now, “I miss you and I (hate that I) think I need you,” seems to cover it. Happy holidays. x