Hiraeth Part II: Holiday Homesickness

hiraeth   (n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past. It is late afternoon in Brooklyn, random groups of people can be seen wandering the streets dragging their rolling luggage, arms full of post-holiday shopping bags as they return to their brownstone apartments. The sidewalks are narrowed by the unusually large piles of trash accumulating curbside. Wrapping paper, empty cardboard boxes, unwanted old toys, and disposable Christmas trees (some still decorated, some with an occasional forgotten ornament) signal we are in the days between holidays. This year I am doing something completely new and different. I am opting out of the holidays. I am valuing my unexpected freedom and independence I have to take this choice. It may never come again I realize, and I hope. For Thanksgiving, I had sushi in my micro-studio and this unChristmas, finds me introspective staying in my old garden apartment hanging out with the two cats and dog (all female) while my ex is away with his girlfriend. Even though my allergies are tickling me and making me itchy, the pet therapy is doing me good. Their love is healthier than the overeating I am doing particularly of sweets, and oversleeping, and dreaming a lot. My dreams are processing a lot of stuck and stagnant material I suspect as I awaken abruptly several times in the night, disoriented of my body's positioning in dark und...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news