Dead Week

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day always seems weird. Some people call it “dead week.” In Spain, we call it puente–it is customary that when a holiday falls midweek, you bridge the gap and take the days between as a holiday. Time goes into a warp, neither long nor short. Everything is out of rhythm, out of routine. And this year, the week seems particularly long.

It feels like a liminal space hovering between joy and sorrow, beginning and end, light and dark. It is a time of evaluation, perspective, and contemplation. I’ve always loved the word liminal, literally, an in-between time. As we hover between 2024 and 2025, as always, the introspective one; my mind has been in hyperdrive. 

JOY/BEGINNING/LIGHT

Love. Seeing the words “I love you” in a text from one of my daughters—an acknowledgment of my fatherhood for the first time in almost fourteen years.

Barcelona. Life in Barcelona is filled with sensual pleasures. There is sunbathing on the Mediterranean, fried churros dunked in hot chocolate, midnight bar crawls in the Gothic Quarter, beautiful people of every description, wandering through beautiful museums, the sheer bliss of tantric massage, and languid afternoons reading in my favorite library. And yes, practical pleasures such as freedom, acceptance, peace, and safety. 

Gina. My muse, companion, friend, and lover. 

SORROW/ENDING/DARK

Hate. Toward those who look, love, or believe differently.

America. The rapid death of democracy and the rise of autocracy. 

Jimmy Carter. A rare leader (alas, a dying breed) with integrity, compassion, and intelligence. 

There is so much more I could say. I will do so in 2025, every Tuesday that I can. Thanks for joining me.

Help me build this community. If you know someone who finds uncensored writing and art refreshing, please tell them about this liminal space and suggest they SUBSCRIBE. Simply forward the subscribe page to them with a personal note.

I am human. The more I know people appreciate my efforts, the more I am encouraged to create. 

Thanks so much, brave reader, and may your 2025 be filled with joy, beginnings, and light.