Yes, sentimental.
The holidays are sentimental, but
My, how those sentimentalities have changed.
The highly propagandized artifacts of Indigenous or Pagan tradition used to sell a white-washed settler-colonial history
Don’t spark the joy they used to.
Yes, time with loved ones is priceless.
In a society structured to capitalize and commodify Time, we must cherish what we have together
When we have it.
Further,
We must make it.
Slowing my drive past lit-up houses and decorated shrubbery to
Slow Down.
After all, who doesn’t like shiny things?
No, glitter is not necessarily gold,
But twinkle lights get me every time.
No time for lists anymore, though.
No wish.
No desire.
No want.
For however you frame it, the problem remains: it’s not the point.
We’re not merely consumers.
Yet, somehow, holidays end up the same–dipping into our pocketbooks.
Please don't misinterpret!
I love to give gifts.
And to get gifts!
But the homemade.
My home is full of the made of my friends, mentors, and loved ones. It is a space cultivated as carefully as the art it houses.
The intimacies and vulnerabilities of our most prized people, including ourselves.
Yes, we pour ourselves into our art.
What could be more precious than sharing that?
That’s the “giving season."
A chance to give more of ourselves to our community–
To find within ourselves what is unique to give to others.
Yes, I feel sentimental about that.
About the Creator
kp
I am a non-binary, trans-masc writer. I work to dismantle internalized structures of oppression, such as the gender binary, class, and race. My writing is personal but anecdotally points to a larger political picture of systemic injustice.
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