I’m writing this on November 15 in anticipation of posting it just before Thanksgiving here in the U. S. and A, so it’ll reach as many of you BEFORE the holiday weekend as possible.
And my message is a simple one:
Don’t write.
Take a break.
Holidays, stressful as they are, are for enjoying family and relaxing. That’s often contradictory, but that’s the goal.
Getting a house full of people fed isn’t usually conducive to having a clear mind for writing.
Besides, even if you aren’t doing the cooking, you’ll be doing the eating.
And eating is GOOOOOOD.
I’d like to hear about your eating exploits, past, present or future, during this Thanksgiving time. Not because overeating is to be celebrated – okay, maybe it is. Once a year we can do that. It’ll give us a reason to make a resolution to diet in the new year.
Which you’re gonna do anyway.
So, you know. This is not that.
I will NOT be writing during the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Bwaahahaha. I almost wrote that with a straight face!
No, really, I won’t. As in, I will not be PLANNING to write. Because that’s where the mistake is.
DO NOT PLAN TO WRITE.
IF, by some miracle of the stars, you are struck with inspiration AND the free time to jot something down, have at it. But PLAN on not doing any writing until things get back to normal. For some of you, that’s January 15.
That’s okay.
Breaks are good. They recharge your batteries and create a desire to get back to it. Forcing writing when you have other stuff distracting you – and the holidays are, like, the #1 stress time for many, many people – you won’t get anything written or it’ll be crap.
Either way, you’ll feel bad.
And I’m trying to make you feel GOOD.
I’ll be cracking the whip again soon enough. But right now, it’s holiday time, so relax.
Most of the posts you see from me will be some of my beloved family memories from years past. Feel free to READ and enjoy!
(This is a really good one to relax with. Just sayin’.)
Click HERE to grab it on Amazon. Or don’t. But DO relax this weekend!
Dan Alatorre 
Have a fabulous Thanksgiving, Daniel! Lots of love and hugs to you and your beautiful family, please do give them my best. But can you answer me this – after spending a whole day being thankful for everything you have, why do Americans then have Black Friday just 24 hours later, when everyone goes crazy buying loads of crap they don’t need? I reckon you should all eat so much you can’t move for at least 48 hours. Big hugs to all!
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Once upon a time Christmas was celebrated as a time of peace and love, and people gave each other presents.
As Americans grew wealthier, more and more retail sales occurred during the Christmas holiday, so retailers had a bigger and bigger pushes each year to make sales during the holiday season. For some it is half of their sales year occurring in one month. For others it’s even more important than that.
Since most people had the day after Thanksgiving off, some bastard retailer got the idea of having a big sale on that Friday. Others liked that idea and they would have a big sale that weekend as well. Others wanted to do even better so they would have sales that would get you in the store so they could sell you other stuff, and they would start their sale at 6 AM on Friday or 5 AM on Friday or midnight on Friday…
And then something strange happened. The competitive side of Americans seemed to ignite and they bought into the madness.
Of course if you have 400 million people doing something, you’re gonna be able come up with a few stories about it going wrong somehow. And since our beloved news media like nothing more than to put an embarrassing light on anything we do, that’s what they will ship overseas for everyone else to view. Not 399,999,999 people doing everything right, but one person being an idiot.
Anyway, is it stuff we don’t need? Well once you get past bread and water I guess it’s all stuff we don’t need. Kind like bowler hats.
What will I be doing on Friday? Watching my daughter and some of her friends play at our house.
Because once upon a time the Christmas season was about peace and love.
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This is a beautiful tale indeed! We now have Black Friday over here too and we don’t even have the Thanksgiving bit first. I hate shopping but am a big fan of peace and love (and unnecessary bowler hats).
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Ha! That’s hilarious. Black Friday without Thanksgiving. Of all things to miss – the eating is the best part!
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I know!! But fear not – in honour of my American friends, I will be eating like it’s Thanksgiving, to show my love and adoration for you chaps across the pond.
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You’re welcome to come and eat here any time, Thanksgiving or otherwise.
But Thanksgiving is the best time.
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I wish I could just nip over there right this second!! But I will come over and eat all you food at some point, I promise.
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You’d better. That’s what it’s for.
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Good advice. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
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Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
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I was hit with a bit of inspiration driving home from the liquor store, watching a line of traffic fight to get into Fresh Market. 🙂
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Ha! That puts the “happy“ in happy holidays.
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Happy Thanksgiving Dan. 🙂
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Thanks, Debby!
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Great inspiration, I will try not to write but know already it won’t happen. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. x
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Thank you! I’m kind of the same way. I have so much stuff I need to do this weekend and I don’t feel like doing any of it so I am looking at all kinds of ways to procrastinate!
Writing is always good for that.
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I agree with that. We have stuff to shift, a Welsh Dresser needs emptying……..etc. 🙂
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Absolutely. Everyone does.
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