On Home.

Becoming your chosen path, being successful, all comes at a cost, one that I've managed to avoid for years but finally, am tackling it head on. Family holidays, and not being with the ones you love as is "tradition." 

Back in Undergrad I was very lucky that I lived a mere 20 miles from home, easily enough to get home and visit family, visit friends, and maintain doctor appointments, and chiro care, etc. But one thing that never crossed the radar was holidays. Until I studied abroad in London, and then suddenly, Easter was whisked away from family dinners and family reunions. 

I became okay with the holidays starting to shift their meanings for me. I'm a family type guy. At the end of the day, the most important people to me are my family. Always have been, always will be. Why did I have to start abandoning our traditions? My mother had a different plan however, she, being the other half of the glue gun in our family chose to shift our traditions in a different fashion. Do holidays have to be celebrated on their actual days? Can they be celebrated under the same traditions but under another date? Surely. 

Now, becoming a busy little beaver here in DC, I'm refocusing my efforts again on the Holiday conversation. Thanksgiving, the time when we should be thankful for all that we have, seems to have the blues in me playing at full volume. WI is just far enough that it's nearly impossible and improbable to get there and back in 24 hours to celebrate. Luckily, we were able to double dip in a way, when I was at home for a family wedding a couple weeks ago. Although it felt strange to celebrate a bit way early, it still was an enjoyable afternoon. 

Orphan Holidays. 
I celebrated my first Orphan holiday two years ago at Easter time, where I invited everyone at grad-school over to enjoy an afternoon of food, fun, frivolity, and card games. We had a few people show up and enjoy the whole day. Although it was not the typical day it had once been, it was refreshing to spend it "off" and in a sense of relaxed fun. Recently, the idea of an orphan holiday became a more full fledged acceptance while working with a fellow sound designer. We discussed the notion of what it means to take friends in, and just celebrate together, ditching the Thomas Kinkade romanticism, and instead, focusing and refocusing on the enjoyment of life, and frivolity... and maybe a drink or two. 

Who knows what the future has in store? Can holidays get a full day off again in the future? Are holidays staying a thing anymore in the world?

Food for thought.