Why it’s Christmas day! No, you haven’t missed it!

Be of good cheer, my friends. Keep what’s special about today in your heart all year ’round.

May your evening be merry, may you spend it with those you love, and may you check in on your neighbors. If your hearth is warm, open it. Your heart, too.

It’s very easy to get a little bit ahead and then squander it. It’s harder to get a little bit ahead and then use it to go a little further. If you want to provide for others, always remember that one of the “others” you must provide for is your future self.

Can you swim? If yes, did you ever take formal lessons, or did you simply grow up in and around water? I grew up near the ocean, in a part of the country where beaches, swimming pools, lakes and ponds are all very common. For children in this area, being in the water is natural on pretty much any day where it’s warm. So like most kids in my demographic, I can swim simply because I’ve been in water since before I could walk.

If you’re like me, imagine trying to explain to someone how to swim if that person has never seen a body of water larger than a bathtub before. Imagine a young child from a landlocked, desert country. Never seen a pool, let alone an ocean. And explain to them – verbally – how to swim.

It is very unlikely that they will be successful their first time, based only on your instructions. Not just because of their own inexperience, but yours. You’re an experienced swimmer, sure. But a very inexperienced swimming instructor.

The more intuitive something is for you, the harder it will be for you to teach it to someone for whom it is not intuitive at all. The gap is too wide for the limited tools you have. Experience teaching something is different than experience doing it.

To truly rise to the heights in a given skill, you need to do more than just be good at it. You need to be able to teach, to inform, to impart knowledge – so practice when you can.

The very best cultures are the ones that say, “Go explore other cultures.”

If you feel like you have to defend your culture with gatekeeping (in either direction), ostracizing the outgroup, condemning heretics, or any other sort of purity controls, then your culture probably isn’t very good.

The best cultures want cultural exchange. They’re strong enough to take the best and leave the worst, to grow through that exchange, and to welcome new members all the time. Whether you’re a world-wide religion or a fan club for a TV show at your high school, you should always be willing to encourage your members – including yourself! – to go out and experience the vast other. And you should invite the other into your space to experience yours.

That’s the best gift of all.

It is a blessing to give. To do favors, to be generous. It’s worth aspiring to. That doesn’t mean you have to when you can’t – but it does mean that you should work until you can. Our lives are so short, and what blessings we can spread around make them worth while.

An underrated skill is knowing how much fun you’ll have doing something.

Some people think they’ll have a lot of fun doing something, and then have very little. Or perhaps the opposite! As a result of either, they don’t have as much fun as they should.

Embrace the things that will bring you joy – seek them out, engage readily. And be okay passing on the opposite.

Have more fun!

Tonight, my eldest was the first performance of the Winter Concert, and played The Carol of The Bells on the piano, solo. She was, of course, marvelous.

I have never once made her practice. I’ve never stood over her sternly, forcing her to the keys. Like all of her mighty works, she did it because she wanted to. She is creative, hard-working, and whip smart – but she’s also free. Independent. Distinct.

How much prouder could a father be?

I’ve been thinking a lot about energy management lately. As the new year approaches, I was reflecting on the fact that most people resolve to do more stuff in the new year – new diets, new jobs, new hobbies, new adventures. Those things are good! But far too little attention is paid, I think, to resolving to do less.

Our lives accumulate clutter – obligations, tasks, maintenance. We live little room for important things if we don’t clear that out regularly.

Even day to day, doing less can be a boon. I’m often victim to “momentum impulse,” the idea that once I’ve accomplished a few things, I should maintain that pace and keep riding the inspiration. But getting several things done and then saying, “That’s a solid day!” reserves some of that energy for tomorrow. Instead of waking up exhausted from yesterday’s frenzy, a steady pace is better – and leaves more room for joy.

Sometimes you have to release a thing you truly care about. That’s what you were doing the whole time – getting it ready to fly. All things move; stillness is the quiet of the grave. You can’t always follow, and you can’t always fly. But if the joy flies ahead, you’ve done your job, and done it well.