And now I find myself mid-week of that curious time period between winter holidays: the six days just after Christmas frenzy and just before New Year’s Eve festivities, a time noticeably different from other weeks in the calendar. Norway has a word for this particular week: Romjul. It is considered a period of reflection, a time to spend with friends and family.
It is a good plan, if you can swing it.
True, not everyone gets this time off, many people still go into work. But from testimonies by others and from my own experience the work somehow seems intense, less routine, perhaps, as you and your co-workers continue to operate on holiday celebration mode. It is understood the real groove of the job doesn’t come until January.
Yes, some people work and others don’t have the opportunity to hang with family and friends. That is why the Internet provides advice and suggestions for how one might make the most of, as one writer put it, “This black hole of time.” I checked out a few blogs and the results, for me at least, were mixed.
Right up front, most lists suggest “binging,” on some activity in the sense of watching multiple episodes of a TV series, or listening to certain podcasts. This won’t work for me because I have a very short attention span and quickly lose patience when it comes to television. I recently read a quote from the poet Robert Bly, “Television is the most disgusting form of not doing that we have. How can we have art if entertainment is everywhere?” That is maybe a bit harsh, implying TV is the reason our culture is not doing art, but I’m not sure he is totally wrong, either.
To be fair, the blogs did suggest that making art is a possible choice for spending Romjul. One blog suggests making something with your hands. Another recommended taking up a hobby such as painting, with an accompanying photo of a hand in the process of painting with watercolors a cute kitten.
Many recommendations were practical: Wash all of your clothes that need hand-washing; Make and freeze several meals; Make a budget for the coming year; Start an indoor garden, perhaps growing herbs in a window box; Gather up and get rid of things you no longer wear or use and give them away; Get rid of samples, shampoos, soaps, etc, you have kept from vacations. (Guilty. Hard for either of us to throw away perfectly good and useful products.); Unsubscribe to email lists or newsletters you don’t use or need; Inventory your phone notifications. I find I occasionally do these last two when I am stuck somewhere waiting. Perhaps dedicating some Romjul time for this would be worthwhile.
All of the lists had some form of “Read a book.” One suggested making a list of titles to read in the coming year. Another suggested catching up on reading the books you have already started. This one hit home for me. I have a tower of books on my reading table that all have little pieces of paper reminding me where I stopped. Some I began so long ago, I probably need to just start over.
All of these are ideas can be useful, but the most important element of a successful Romjul might be to just relax and enjoy the quiet time. According to The American Heart Association, more people die from heart attacks between December 25 and January 1 than any other time of the year. Forgetting medications, eating differently, holiday parties, as well overexertion from shoveling snow can be factors.
This gives me a perfect excuse to chill out this week. I’m pretty sure I won’t be binging on television or anything else, but I might re-start one of those books in my tower. Or maybe I’ll try my hand at making a watercolor picture of a cute kitty.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
