Today was my second session with the therapist. We spent more time during this appointment going through my family tree and discussing the people in my life who I considered my support in the last few months, how they supported me, and how that support may have changed as time has passed. We discussed some of the grudges that people in my family continue to hold despite some incidents having happened over 40-50 years ago, and how those grudges have somehow been passed down to later generations.

While discussing all this, I started thinking about Christmas gifts. This seems completely unrelated, but the main reason I thought about this is that I don’t really want any gifts. What would be great is if we stopped obsessing over what to give and buy people for Christmas (in other words, creating a very unnecessary stress fest during a time that should be joyous) and instead gave people something that money cannot buy – our time. It’s trite, but it’s so true. If we gave more of ourselves and our time to be with the ones who really matter (not the people you are “obligated” to be around. I really mean the people who matter to you), we would be happier as a people. If all my friends offered their ear to listen to my frustrations and stopped telling me to just see a therapist because as a “professional” she should be able to shed insights that my friends could not, I think that would be enough.