Seasonality

December 14th, 2022

“…Seasonality is still with us — even if it is a pale, contracted shadow of its former self. In the Christian world, for instance, there is still the midwinter ´holiday season´ in which values and forms of organization so, to a limited degree, reverse themselves: the same media and advertisers who for most of the year peddle rabid consumerist individualism suddenly start announcing that social relations are what´s really important, and that to give is better than to receive…” — David Graeber “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity”

It is very satisfying to find a quote that describes in a few words what I feel and think but cannot articulate to a level that would satisfy me. This quote just popped up yesterday as I was reading a book that I already know will fundamentally change the way I think about things (but more on this book will be forthcoming over the next few days in my writing here). I wrote numerous times here about the acute awareness of changing seasons that I experience. And that feeling is something new to me, something that I became aware of only a few years ago.

My mood depends not only on the changing seasons but also on anticipation of that change. I am deeply aware of my body from a physical standpoint and how it reacts to changes in daylight and temperature — for example, my need for naps increases proportionally as the length of the day decreases. The same happens to my mind and the way I think as days are shorter and the weather is unwelcoming to any outdoor activities — I think deeper and longer and don't rush to conclusions. It seems like I have more time now just to reflect on things.

So far, so good in reference to the quote above. I have a problem with the second part of this quote though. I think we are already way gone from any semblance of goodwill and altruism and are securely in the claws of rampant consumerism. Any traditional feeling pertaining to the Holiday season does not and will not change it. There is no more even perfunctory attempt to pretend or fake any improvement in relations of any kind among people. The tradition still holds, but the values are forgotten. It is only us who count— “us” in a very narrow scope of the immediate family, and no more need for pretentious showing off of compassion. Something fundamental is being consigned to oblivion, and this change makes no difference in our lives. Change can be good, but selfishness usually isn’t.