Skeptic's Holiday

The shortest day of the yearhas passed. Day by day the portion ofthis planet which we consider to bethe northern hemisphere will experience a gradiationalincrease of sunlight ration per day, at least until we hit the other side of the calendar. From there we'll be at maximum light per day, and we'll again begin increasing the portion of dark.

Meanwhile, thetime and date tracking method which the majority ofus have collectively agreedto use indicates the year we call 2012 must soon pass.This year was labeled 2012 in part because we suppose ithas been2012 years since the birth of a man revered by some as a god and some as an allegory was born. That we largely consider the time which has passed since this birth as two bundles ofone thousand years each is likely due to the truth that the mammal base skeletal structure comes with5 digits per limb, and we human mammalshave 2 limbs we use for counting. Summing, multiplying, and dividing in quantities of 10 suits us well.

In one weekthis period of time, the year,pinned in length by the time it takes earth to travel our sun, will lapse to 2013. This will commemoratetwo thousand and thirteensuch travellingssince the aforementioned birth. We assume that it probably has not actually been this number (2013), but together,society agreesto count it thus.

As the lapse to 2013 occurs, many of us will compile a list of items which we judge ourselves to need improvement on. We'll do this with a mixed sense of guilt, pride, and hope. We'll largely abandon these goals, but the notions which originally drove them will remain and shape our choices andactions throughoutthe remainderof the 2013th journey of earth round the sun.

As a skeptic, to me, much of this seem to befactors of random chance. The way the earth sits in the cosmos, the way our species grew to thrive on the planet, the way we collectively have chosen to calculate and labelwhere we are in time and space; all of this could easilyhave been something different, or nothing. Be this as it may, I enjoy this cycle of seasons, emotions, and tradition. I find the combination of the familiar and random interesting and beautiful. And I am glad for this time of celebration, commemoration, rekindling of human love, and not least of all, rest.

Here's hoping that peace will find each of us. For myself, I'm going to gather with family, friends, and maybe some strangers to lift a toast to all that makes us human and to what within that makes us good. I will spend some more time thinking about who we are, how we got here, and how we can bring more love and happiness to this life.