There’s always something different about this time of year, isn’t there? It doesn’t matter whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even the winter solstice. There’s something unique about these final couple weeks of the year, when time slows down.
To me, it’s always felt like an “in between” time — when work slows, our normal responsibilities recede into the distance, and we can just be. And reflect on the year just gone by.
When I think about what I’m trying to do with this newsletter, the thread that runs through it all is to try, in however small a way, to lift you (and me!) up. To find some inspiration, something that gets your blood flowing, and gets you to feel like you can go out there and take on the day.
But if I’m being completely honest, there have been moments this year — more than I’d like to admit — when I’ve gone to my own well for inspiration and not found much there.
It has been very difficult to watch what has been happening this year to those at the margins of our society, the most vulnerable among us, and not feel an overwhelming sense of despair. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m not the only one who feels like a David without a slingshot, looking up at a gigantic Goliath towering over us all.
Then, I remember.
I remember the protests I took my son to earlier this year. The feeling of being among people who felt like I did — who wanted not just to feel awful about what was happening but to do something about it, however small that something might be.
I remember the causes and the candidates I’ve donated to and campaigned for, even in small ways and even when I couldn’t donate much. Sometimes a little can go further than you think.
I remember that I’m just one person, and while I should — and will — aim to do all I can, the world outside my door will still be there. I can’t make it go away, no matter how hard I try.
I remember that I have to put my shoulder to the wheel in whatever way I can, and trust that someday that effort will bear fruit. Because none of us can know what lies ahead, the only thing we can control is ourselves.
And, maybe most importantly, I try to remember to be careful in what I behold, the images and stories and news I consume. Because, to paraphrase Nietzsche’s famous words, we need to be careful not to “gaze too long into the abyss, because the abyss also gazes into you.”
What does that mean? I think we have to take care not to get so engaged with what causes us despair that we become like it ourselves — that we need reminders that life also contains joy, excitement and happiness, even when we don’t see it.
This is going to sound really ridiculous, but I got a reminder of exactly that yesterday. I was driving in my car, listening to a radio broadcast of something awful in the news — pick any story, they were all terrible.
Irritated, I tapped the music icon on my car’s dashboard screen and pressed “Play.” I had no idea what song was cued up, or what I was about to hear.
And what popped up first?
The opening “BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM” of James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine”!
Have you ever heard this song? I’ve loved it since the first time I heard the opening notes blasting from the stereo of an old college friend’s convertible, decades ago. It’s electric, it gets you up on your feet, and you can’t think about anything else, especially when you hear JB’s intro:
Fellas, I’m ready to get up and do my thing! (Yeah! That’s right! Do it!) I want to get into it, man, you know? (Go ahead! Yeah!) Like a, like a sex machine, man, (Yeah!) movin’, groovin’, doin’ it, y’know? (Yeah!) Can I count it off? (Okay! Alright!) One, two, three, four!
When I heard it yesterday, I was finally able to snap out of it. (I believe the words I said to myself were “FUCK… yes!”) It dawned on me that we all have moments when we feel bad — but that feeling isn’t meant to give us license to simply feel bad some more. No, it has a purpose: to spur us to action.
The year ahead is bound to bring lots of reasons to feel despair, for certain. But these are opportunities to take action, no matter how small, to do what we can to make this world a little bit better.
I realize this may be the weirdest Christmas/holiday email you’ve ever received. Same for me! But I hope it fills you with the same energy, the same spirit, the same aliveness, as that song did for me when I heard it.
I hope you have an amazing, wonderful holiday filled with love, laughter and cheer — and I can’t wait to see you again in the new year.
And in the words of JB, “Get it together — right on, right on.”
Your friend,
— Terrell
And a musical coda I think you’ll love…
I like the stark authenticity in "the weirdest Christmas/holiday email ever received". A change from the longer versions of a Hallmark card.
Looking forward to what's next from you in 2026.
Exactly what I needed to hear. At times this year has felt so overwhelming sad I didn't know what to do with myself. But you're right, even one person can make a difference. This community has been a lifeline, and I thank you for bringing us all together. Happiest of holidays to everyone and here is to a more peaceful 2026!