Filling the Well

For the last few years, I've been trying to figure out just what January was for.

I realized the other day that I've been asking the wrong question. I found myself telling the girls I work with that my absence of Christmas cheer this year was especially alarming because an overflow of cheer is what usually gets me through January and February.

So the question is: what is December for? And the answer is -- it's for what Julia Cameron, in The Artist's Way, calls filling the well so that you can survive the bleak, spiritual desert ahead. By the end of December, you should be so sated with songs and gatherings and lovely pine-and-holly decorations and Christmas breads and sausages that the emptiness of January is a welcome respite.

The authors of Unplug the Christmas Machine suggest that we've lost two important aspects of the Christmas season: Advent and Epiphany. The celebration of Christmas used to last for weeks -- from December 1 to the "twelfth night." Now, they lament, we've got one mad shopping frenzy that ends abruptly on December 25, and heaven help you if you leave your Christmas lights up one minute past New Year's.

This long celebration fits nicely with the idea of filling the well, and I'm going to keep this in mind for next year. But meanwhile, I'm going to spend today joyfully cramming in the cheer. Here's what I've got in mind:

• Listening to Ornaments and Icing
• Hanging out at the West Side Market
• Buying some last-minute gifts at Hansa Import Haus, Athens Pastries, and Something Different
• Knocking back a few Christmas ales with friends, perhaps
• Making a few more charitable donations
• Writing, writing, writing