Happy Holidays to all!

It's been a difficult, tumultuous, and often unnerving year for everypony. I'm not in the Christmas spirit or a Christmasy person, but I genuinely hope through all the chaos and heartache, those of you who longed for the comfort, feelings of goodwill, and sense of home Christmas brings to you was attained.

I hope you all love your gifts, and I hope everypony you've given gifts receive there's. I hope if nothing else, you can find surrender to another year completed and survived, and we can find some presence of peace and hope for the future. Personally, I've come to finally accept certain things about myself this year. I've come to maintain my weight through healthier methods, I'm currently at the thinnest. In fact, I got an early gift from my mother which was a perfectly fitted hoodie, and my eyes when I noticed it was a medium. A medium! I'm a 6'1" man, and I'm at a point where I need a medium shirt. That's a Christmas memory I probably won't forget. 

I also relapsed this year. Negative experience, but I refuse to allow its taint to wash over the accomplishments and strides I've taken this year.

Also, my dad, a conservative baptist, gave me a fairly precious gift, and possibly my favorite gift this year...a copy of the first Equestria Girls movie on DVD! Is it available on YouTube? Yes. Do I already own it on bluray? Obviously. But did my conservative baptist father with whom I've had a troubled past purchase me a DVD after actually asking different stores about My Little Pony stuff, and even mentioned it was for his 26-year-old son? Yes, and that means a lot to me. My favorite gift was a used $5 DVD of a movie I already own, although I'll be honest, that old-fashioned white DVD box with a DVD case cover art? Yes, on a personal, aesthetic, and nostalgic level, I also loved that second part (I found Friendship Games on DVD for $2, and I bought that even though I had it on bluray).

I actually began this Happy Holidays entry not sure where I would arrive, but in so writing, I feel I've arrived at an emotionally sensible point. I genuinely hope all your Christmases were precious, fulfilled, and comforting, but regardless, find that one thing. That one thing that meant something to you on a profound and complex level. Whether it was a gift, a gesture, a statement, a decision someone helped you make. That one thing the Christmas spirit brought you which no other spirit can. For me? Equestria Girls on DVD from a dad who accepts my interests, my alternative and quite subversive identity, and neurodivergent difficulties and benefits. I don't quite feel understood, but I feel closer than before.

What's that one thing for anypony? I would love to know. I'm sure many of you got things you loved, but what's the one thing that just affected you on multiple levels and possibly even profoundly. Or, if we aren't feeling that deep, how was your Christmas or otherwise holiday celebrations? How are your families? Friends? How was your year?

Well, Happy Holidays, and

Happy Hearth's Warming!