Maslow was Probably Right
I'm so grateful I have the entire week off between Christmas and the New Year. I'm usually in such a state by Christmas morning that it takes me any number of days to decompress before facing the mind-numbing hell that is my job.

As much as I complain about a number of aspects of my life, it always bears remembering that I have so many more checks on the Pro side of things. I have a house, a car, a job, The Boy who loves me, a supportive and loving extended family, many material posessions and my health.

Whenever I find myself itching for more or better, I can't help but harken back to my Grade Twelve 'Man and Society' class. We learned all about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Keep in mind, I realize I do not need a better house, as the 52-year-old one I presently have keeps the rain and the critters out, and my stuff safely in. I do not need a better job; the one I've got pays the bills and keeps me off the streets and the government dole. I do not need a better car, since the 1991 Jeep I have still works just fine, even if it could be described more and more
as a rust bucket.

Insofar as The Boy, my family and my health are concerned, I am luckier than most. They are (mostly) all (mostly) sane and (mostly) supportive people. The holiday season is not one I dread, aside from all the shopping and creative thinking that's required of me during the month of December. I love to be all Martha with my decorating and gift-giving. Not to show up others, but to truly enjoy the happy looks on everyone's faces when they crack into a homemade Christmas cracker, or tear through five layers of colour coordinated tissue, crumpled up just so
in a beautiful gift bag, to reveal the
well thought out treasure nestled below.

Have you ever noticed how Christmas has evolved into a season where you concentrate on getting things; then, as if you don't have enough already, you turn around a week later, making all sorts of resolutions about how to get more? Oh sure, there are the standard self-improvement/world peace resolutions, stuck in there to throw everyone off the scent of the true agenda, but they can usually be counted on to fall by the wayside before January turns into February. Some claim to have stopped making resolutions full stop, although I suspect they simply concoct theirs silently and avoid the bother of voicing all of the fake ones each year.

Maybe it has something to do with the human need to excel. To always put forth an effort to be better, to do better, to be seen as striving for better. To stay in one place and idle is generally frowned upon, taking backward steps most definitely a no-no.

So, forward motion it is.

Posted at 8:35 a.m.