A Long December

Here’s a funny thing I’ve always noticed about December… If things are good, December makes them feel great. If you’re stressed or not feeling it, December turns the volume up. It’s like the month has emotional reverb.

I suspect that community matters the most in December. It’s the last month of the year, after all. Everyone you see is carrying something from the previous eleven months – grief, stress, joy, hope, all mixed up together. Being with other people doesn’t magically fix any of it, but it does keep us from slipping under. We can get through the season by steadying each other.

One thing I’ve come to really appreciate about operating at Valhöll Brewing is the community they create. People from all sorts of backgrounds and circumstances end up here, talking, laughing, sharing a moment. You don’t have to be perfectly put-together to walk through the doors. Folks roll in tired, stressed, cheerful, hopeful, or all of the above. It’s a place where it’s okay to exhale for a minute. Lyndsi and Nate have built something warm, welcoming, and unpretentious – we’re grateful we get to be a small part of it.

So, here’s my holiday wish for you: carve out a little time to get out and be around actual humans this month. December has a way of making us think everyone else is starring in a Hallmark movie while we’re over here just trying to keep the wheels on. But nobody’s living a flawless, glitter-covered December. We’re all improvising. And sometimes the best antidote to the whole messy season is just showing up somewhere that reminds you you’re not doing it alone.

And who knows… Maybe this year will be better than the last.