“Whenever I catch myself getting too nostalgic, well I just think about how heavy the wigs used to be!”

The start of the holiday season here in the US always makes me nostalgic. I think back to celebrations with friends and family that seem magical and simple and easy. And then I take one look at the pile of dishes and laundry to be done and think… it’s so much harder today.

But is it really?

While it’s lovely to romanticize the past, it’s probably not an accurate view. It’s always sort of in candlelight, isn’t it? A bit blurry, fuzzy edged and beautiful. But if we dialed in the focus a bit more…. There was still a giant pile of dishes and laundry. There were still blizzards and travel mishaps and family feuds and dry turkeys and someone forgot to whip the cream. If I’m accurate and honest and turn up the lighting, those were really difficult things to navigate. I was new to hosting, wasn’t an experienced traveler, the blending of the families was newer and less easy, and whipping cream takes forever, especially if you don’t have a mixer.

Today I have the experience and the skills to handle a whole lot more with a whole lot less effort and drama. I can order a perfect turkey from Whole Foods! I can BUY whipped cream! I know how to travel to avoid stress and what to do if something goes bump! It’s tempting to think things used to be easier – but it sure would be a shame to discount all the progress we’ve made that makes today’s burdens the lighter ones.

Be like Dolly. Remember that the wigs used to be so much heavier.