On a year without Ponche
If I recall correctly, this is the first year of my life in which I've had no Ponche at all.
It's one of those strange epiphanies: you catch yourself thinking a small, unimportant thought, like a dead leaf. Then you wonder about it and the closer you look, the more you discover about it. You get to wonder how on earth you missed it this whole time.
Why is it that I didn't get any Ponche this year? It's usually served during the Posadas (the nine days before Christmas) and I didn't attend even one. Other years I celebrated them with my brothers in their respective schools, with my mom at her work, with my friends at their homes. Some years, when I was more religious, I spent several days on small comunities in a spiritual retreat of sorts, and they celebrated like no other.
That's not to say I was sad and curled up in my bed these days (well, some days I was). I wrote more than any other year during NaNoWriMo and planning the next one. I focused a lot on beginning a serious commonplace book and a personal quotebook. I was busy with the guys in the local Wikimedia chapter. I kept doing things. I just never tried going to a Posada this year, so it didn't happen out of the blue. Simple as that.
This small realization made me see how things really aren't the same anymore and even though I'd like to, a lot of these changes are a product of my choice. I chose to do what I did (and I chose not to do or not to choose some other things). Two and a half years living alone in this city and I'm still learning about it.
So I'm grateful for having learned a bit this year. I'm grateful that I'm still living and that I'm reasonably in good standing.
So this is what I've done, e2-wise:
Happy New Year, e2!