There are a lot of things I’m not particularly fond of which seem to be gaining popularity. A little bit earlier this year we had “Black Friday”, (Something I’m already not a fan of) only this year it pretty broadly encroached on Thanksgiving; that holiday being something I am a fan of.
I’m not here to throw stones about any of this stuff, but I would like to bring up one idea that either doesn’t seem very popular, or is at least losing some ground:
Just stop for a minute.
Here’s what I mean by that: When something is happening that makes it seem fairly unreasonable to go out and do things…just don’t. So, when it’s Thanksgiving and your options are staying in, (maybe spending some time with your friends and/or family, or maybe even alone, or even being at a soup kitchen volunteering) or going out… just don’t go. Just stop for a minute, and stay where you are, and enjoy the stop. Or don’t enjoy the stop, but stop anyway.
On a less ‘festive’ note, when it’s snowing outside, the ground is slick and frozen, the roads are barely being kept visible, and the likelihood that you’d want to be outside walking around is ‘not at all’… just don’t go. Don’t get in your car, and don’t risk that accident. Nature is doing things out there, and nature says ‘it’s dangerous outside right now, don’t come out here.’ That’s a big part of why we build shelters: to shelter us from the things that nature sometimes does.
Maybe this idea is a fantasy, and maybe I’m the crazy one for trying to preserve it. I just sort of wish that it was understood that, when something is happening that makes it silly to go out to other places, whether what’s happening is a holiday or a blizzard, we all just stop for a minute.