Vin Brocki: Blogging

Every year, the holidays arrive like an unexpected houseguest— uninvited but impossible to ignore. The tree goes up, calendars fill, and the season begins its familiar dance of ritual and chaos. And somewhere in that whirl, you catch yourself wondering how many more seasons will look quite like this.

This year, the season feels a little different to me. Not in a dramatic, Dickensian “ghost-of-Christmas-future” way. More like a low hum in the background, reminding me that in about two weeks I have… well, an important appointment. The kind you prepare for by taking a deep breath and trusting the professionals more than your imagination.

It’s funny—you think the holidays are about gifts and gatherings, but they’re really about calibration. About trying to line up who you were last year with who you are now. Which is probably why I’ll spend this December juggling tradition, nostalgia, and occasional existential angst.

And then there are the bizarre machinations of the present political scene, social media included, that defy any semblance of sanity or compassion toward others.

Still we hang the lights anyway. Still we wrap presents in shiny paper. Still we pretend that December is a magical month, even though all evidence points to it being a marathon made entirely of sugar, traffic, and receipts.

Amid the noise, we choose rituals that insist on hope.

So I’m letting the season be what it is—messy, hectic, unpredictable. And I’m letting myself feel what I feel: a mix of anticipation, gratitude, and just enough anxiety to power a modest suburban light display.

If all goes well—and I expect it will—the new year will greet me with a little more clarity, a slightly improved operating system, and the same stubborn determination to keep finding the humor in all this.

After all, the holidays don’t have to make perfect sense. They just have to make enough sense to keep us moving forward.

Vin Brocki, Erie, PA, USA

December 3, 2025