The day started with a banana and a journal…
Christmas Eve has become one of my favorite days of the year. It’s one of very few days each year I give myself full permission to shut out all thoughts of work and just be present for the days ahead. In my family, we call this “The Bregel Blockout.” The phrase started with my dad years ago as his way of protecting his mind from unnecessary drama, stress, or unpleasantness. Somewhere along the way, I adopted it as a small but meaningful antidote to my own workaholic tendencies.
This morning I met up with my godfather, Harold, at one of my favorite coffee shops to ease into the day and spend time together before our weekly book study. Since COVID, Harold, his longtime college friend Jon, and I have met every Wednesday to read and reflect together. Today we decided to press pause on the book and talk instead about where we grew, and where we didn’t, over the course of 2025.
One thing that became clear to me is that I feel more confident in my voice than I ever have before. There are a lot of reasons for that, but one book that’s had a real impact on me is The Four Agreements. One of its core ideas, “Don’t Take Anything Personally”, has stayed with me. I’ve felt noticeably more fearless this year in expressing myself and simply being who I am, without trying to overly manage how it lands.
After our conversation, Harold pulled out boxes of old photos from a summer camp he worked at as a counselor in his twenties.
From there, I did some very last minute Christmas shopping for our neighbors and, of course, their pets. One of our neighbors has a cat named Sam who loves to sit outside our door until we let him in and feed him. We keep a stash of cat food just for him. Our dog Pizza, often tries to hump Sam, which understandably does not go over well. Sam slaps Pizza and hisses, and Lin and I laugh every single time.
The rest of the day included an open house at a family friend’s place, church with my family, dinner together, and now ending the night sitting in front of a fire, winding down, and writing this.
And that’s all I’ve got.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays. - Jon
