Tag: new years

another spin

I suppose it’s that time now.

If I’m being completely frank, I’m entirely satisfied that the interruption of my regularly scheduled food regimen and workout schedule is coming to an end. The holiday hours at my gym are less than ideal and at the risk of sounding like a total grinch, the notion that Christmas is ONE SINGLE DAY that seems to infringe upon us from December 20th until about January 3rd is irritating.

I like Christmas. Don’t get me wrong… but I feel like I am one of the few that acknowledges that traditionally, Christmas Eve is the day that a family would go out and cut down some unsuspecting sapling, then on Christmas morning the kind would open their (singular) present, and play with their newfound toy until dinner was ready. Boxing day is a tradition by which leftover food would be ‘boxed up’ and taken to the cornerstone of every community – the church – where the less fortunate folks go go enjoy a meal of leftovers…

… and that’s ultimately it.

What my brain knows about this holiday season, and what my credit card statement knows about this holiday season, are vastly different. My credit card statement’s knowledge of the history of christmas only goes back about 30 days.

It’s fine. I’m happy everyone had a nice christmas, and honestly, I had a nice Christmas.

I don’t live to work out. Nor do I live to eat.
I eat and workout to live.
And taking breaks is an important part of living.

But… now it’s time to get back into my regularly regimented program of eating nutrient-dense food and beating the absolute shit out of myself at the gym. My goals for the new year haven’t really changed much. My athletic goals are an augmented update of the previous year, and my artistic goals are an augmented update of the previous year… and with each passing year those things are more and more important.

My goals need to be steady, really. I’ve got a teenager in my house who is going to finish high school, become a legal adult, and enroll in a post-secondary program that will set her up in a better way than I ever was. Ultimately, I’ll be riding shotgun for those huge steps in amongst my own smaller old man steps.

I’m lucky I get to do that.
I’m stoked for it.
I’m sure you’ll get to read about some of it.

Happy new year, y’all.
All the best in 2026!

the end of the year

It’s coming up quick… resolution time.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, then you know I couldn’t care less about resolutions, particularly around the new year. I’m a firm believer that the new year starts when you make a change in your life, not the other way around.

I became vegan on March 28, 2000. That was the start of a New Year.
I started working for the company I work for in September of 2011. New Year.
I started training for a triathlon in September of 2021. New Year.

Usually for me, it’s in September or October – which; as I type this, I realize I missed the anniversary of me starting this blog. I guess I’ve been too focused on making the changes I’ve wanted to make to stop and look around at what I’ve accomplished. And… that’s okay… it’s okay that I missed it, and it’s okay that my focus was elsewhere.

I do what I can to stay in the present moment… just like my dog.
He’s a constant reminder of the present moment.
He’s hungry when he’s hungry, he wants to play when he wants to play… not a moment before or after. When we’re walking and I have to pry chicken bones out of his mouth, he’s mad at me in the moment – but a moment later, he’s over it, and he reminds me of this, because I am still pissed off about it moments later, and he’s very irritatingly past it. I strive for this.

However, when I’m making plans for the future, and celebrating the past, I’m not in the moment. I’m living in the future or the past – but rarely the present.

That’s what I want.
More and More, I want that.
But I’m staring at my phone too much.

I actually make my living in nostalgia, both in my day job and in my art… but when I’m playing LIVE, or in the throes of MAKING a record (which I am currently involved in) I am IN the moment and it’s amazing.

And as I typed all that, I was in the moment.
That’s why it was a bit of a tangent.

Anyway… nostalgia is okay.
The past and future are okay.
There’s no shame in thinking about those things, I guess.
We’re geared to think about those things.
But to be truly in the moment is magic.

Not staring at my phone.
Not thinking about how long I have to wait until the snow melts.
Not thinking about New Year’s resolutions.

In the here and now.
And right here, right now, it’s Saturday Morning.
Isn’t that amazing?

the end of the year

The time of perennial celebration for the sake of tradition is finally coming to a close. Though it’s statistically ominous, we believe our livers will keep filtering toxins properly for a couple more days before we as a species, en masse, declare our intentions for clean living & regular exercise in the new year. Every gym and online subscription-based diet plan is currently throwing good money after bad in hopes of securing their income for another few months.

We’ve grown irritable toward our loved ones due to subsiding primarily on junk food for the past several days and we’re all loathing our return to work – except, of course, for the undercredited people who’ve been working in retail spaces and restaurants for the entire ‘vacation time’ that everyone else has been taking.

I don’t drink, and despite a few brief breaks from my regular eating program, am pretty regimented in the diet department. I can also say that I maintained my level of fitness apart from days that the gym was closed.

I don’t know what’s coming around the bend this year but I do know that if you truly believe that the coming year will be better than the previous one, you’ll ultimately be correct. This is based on mindset alone.

Me? My year was great. 2024 beat 2023 hands-down, and although 2023 wasn’t without its challenges, I can say that it surpassed 2022 if for no other reason than the notion that 2022 prepared me for 2023. So I have no doubt in my mind about 2025 because I refuse to live in a state of constant wallowing.

Don’t get me wrong – depression is a real thing, and I won’t take that away from you. I am not talking about depression. I am talking about the folks that aren’t necessarily depressed, but tend to dwell on the darker, bleaker sides of humanity, who spend time consuming dank garbage on social media, and who live with the constant, unwavering belief that we are living in the darkest timeline…

… because, if that’s what you focus on, it’s all you’ll see.

There are a few different religious texts that says that “the truth will be what convinces” which is often taken to mean that we will learn the truth and believe it… but what it actually means is: Whatever you are convinced is true, will be true.

So if you think you’ll never lose enough weight… or that Trump is going to destroy the working poor… or that your boss will overlook your abilities – then you’re destined to only see examples to support these things. However – If you believe you can run your first marathon in 2025… or that you’ll see personal growth and success in your job… or that things will improve economically or socially in your region – then you’ll see examples of that.

This is why I tend to (silently) take issue with the notion of people “speaking their truth” when their truth tends to be more of a questionably formed opinion passed off as fact… because we have to be good to each other, and build each other up… rather than tell each other how it is all the time.

So – whatever kind of New Year you choose to have, I hope good fortune visits you beyond what you thought possible.

… the season

I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds this particular time of year exhausting. I’ve finished all my performance engagements for 2024 and I’ve got a month to sort out the festivities… but if we’re really looking at the calendar, I’ve got 2 weeks, and I’ve already attended a Christmas party a week ago now.

It flies by. We all know it flies by.

So as we make plans to gather with the people we haven’t seen in a while, and in the spirit of cold weather and too much food, and the social contract of ‘tradition’ under which we operate, we include people we don’t really want to spend time with. We spend as little time thinking about the people we’ve blocked and unfriended – both in real life and on the internet – no matter how ‘grinchy’ it makes us, as a mechanism of defence for our own mental health and well-being.

As I ponder the notion of defending our mental health and well-being through the holidays, I can’t help but think that the whole notion of this tradition is a bit of a detriment to most of us. The functions we host and/or attend can be quite magical in the moment, but we all know that as the hour draws ever nearer, the stress compounds and magnifies.

The house is never clean enough or decorated perfectly enough.
The timing of the food being ready all at the same time is paramount.
“Did you iron your shirt?”
“Is that what you’re wearing?”
“I hope so-&-so doesn’t start talking about x, y, and/or z”

I’m flashing back to my youth, praying to whoever was listening to send SOMEONE from our guest list to the house early – or even just on-time – so I could stop dusting the window sills or whatever seemingly senseless task I was assigned that ONLY gets done during the day on Christmas Eve.

The way most of these stresses are handled is by throwing whatever food regimen you follow out the window and washing down the associated guilt and stress with booze. We pour that shit in our coffee first thing in the morning… and we pour that shit in our egg nog with breakfast… until we somehow reach what we’ve deemed a socially acceptable time of day to stop hiding our coping mechanisms… and as much as Christmas is 1 single, solitary day, we actually lose our fucking MINDS from December 20th until January 1st, and most of us go broke doing it.

Being that I’m vegan and don’t drink at all anymore… I don’t have a pool in which to drown my sorrows, so I try to just not have any sorrows in the first place.

If you need to get off this train before it drives off the side of the mountain, consider this your permission. If you’re looking for a sign, I assure you it’s a stop sign.

The holidays weren’t meant to be this self destructive or poisonous. This is the season of giving, after all.

Personally – my family and I have been dialing back holiday commitments for years. My daughter has 2 extended families, my girlfriend has family, then there’s my family… so it’s a lot, especially for my daughter. We actually managed to get my entire family to meet for lunch at Boston Pizza a couple days before Christmas and call it good with just that! However last year, a family member decided that someone (other than their self) should host a proper meal. The only people that showed up was me, my girlfriend, and my daughter. Not even the person who decided this should happen showed up.

We’re back to keeping it simple this year.
Maybe more simple than ever.

I strongly encourage you to do what you can do… but if you need to draw the line, then draw it.

Happy Holidays.