I’ve gleaned a great appreciation for so many subtleties just by slowing down and actually soaking in my surroundings. When the macro world is feeling particularly sucky, it’s sometimes worth maximizing the beauty in the micro stuff.
For example:
- walking past a sidewalk and catching a whiff of fresh laundry blowing in the wind, courtesy of those gut-wrenching, budget-friendly Chicago garden units
- walking by and catching a whiff of weed, sans the actual puff puff pass
- learning that you are capable of overcoming your intense hatred of putting on a duvet cover, without letting it ruin the rest of your day
- realizing a $75 monthly Ventra pass exists and now you can commute anywhere and everywhere “for free”
- watching a kid fall and then immediately laugh it off
- the inauspicious, staggered arrival times of snail mail that was dropped off all at once and sent to nearby places
- starting a cookbook collection, just ‘cuz
- shifting from non-fiction memoirs to sapphic smut
- swiping for love and realizing your self-love lives in your self-proclaimed funny flirt lines
- a clean, cozy apartment with a bidet, guest slippers, and all the doggy god-daddy essentials when duty calls
- working at a place where the entire premise is literally your favorite thing in the world… friends
- actually falling for the TikTok search-bar “2025 exit song” trap/scam, learning yours is A Lot More Free by Max McNown, and being shooketh by the accuracy
- having a tissue holder where the tissues are sh*tting out of a cat’s butt for when you get emotional (or sick, or both)
The holidays can suck. And it hits different when you suddenly find yourself living the exact scenario social media parades around every year. For some, this season is painfully hard; for others, it’s a nonstop waterfall of gifts, love, joy, and abyss-level abundance.
I stopped believing in Santa when my Aunt Gosia dressed up as him when I was about four and I recognized her immediately. But I’ll never stop believing that you can find small subtleties that add a little shine back into your life… even, especially, when a quieter holiday season than you’re used to tries to dim it.
So I stole Izzy Bobbie for a couple of days to make the never-ending days feel more like Christmas. Because I’m convinced that if my golden-retriever-like boifriend energy can cut through the fog.. the kind where dogs live in a carefree Christmas mindset because they’re not assigning meaning to a calendar… then maybe, just maybe, every day could feel a little like Christmas. 🎄
Hawaiian Princess Pieces 