“Get Me Through December”

The Philofaxy community often talks about starting fresh—for some, that happens when January and the New Year roll around.  For others, it starts in September when children return to school.  Either way, it’s the beginning of something new that people seem to be attached to.  It’s a chance for us to begin anew, to start again, to do everything “right.”

I, myself, am no stranger to this phenomenon.  I love the planning sweet spot, not only because it gives me a chance to start my planning fresh, but also to start my life again, though perhaps in a new(ish) way.  It’s the possibility that I’m drawn to, the chance to do everything right, the hope that something great is just around the corner.

With January hurdling towards us at a great speed, I can’t help but think of things in this way yet again.  As December melts/freezes/turns into January, I often think of Alison Krauss’s song Get Me Through December.  At its most basic level, the song is about getting through December in order to start fresh again in January:

How pale is the sky that brings forth the rain
As the changing of seasons prepares me again
For the long bitter nights and the wild winter's day…

However, if you listen closely, the song is really about much more—it’s about getting through difficult times.  We’ve all experienced these times when all we can do is move through our lives, sometimes questioning life and its meaning, hoping just to survive the ride until we reach the other side of the bad time, to be able to “live life” again.  And to me, this is what this song is all about.  It has provided comfort on more than one occasion, more than several.  And sometimes I like to listen to it just because it’s a beautiful song, full of hope and deep feelings that can mean something different for everyone who listens.

Lyrics always get me, strike to the very core of me, because they can mean so much and provide words to feelings I can’t explain or otherwise describe:

I've been to the mountain, left my tracks in the snow
Where souls have been lost and the walking wounded go
I've taken the pain no girl should endure
Faith can move mountains; of that I am sure
But faith can move mountains; of that I am sure

No divine purpose brings freedom from sin
And peace is a gift that must come from within
I've looked for the love that will bring me to rest
Feeding this hunger beating strong in my chest
Feeding this hunger beating strong in my chest

The second-half of 2013 was a difficult one for my family and me.  Going into our fifth month of being without a loved one, on the heels of Christmas no less, is still hard.  Most of us are through the worst of our grief, but the holidays always bring on new feelings and open old wounds.  There are still many unanswered questions surrounding this event.  Hopefully 2014 will bring some closure to us.  Until then, we’re getting through December (both literally and figuratively) as best we can.  I myself am enjoying the season and trying not to focus too much on the events that happened in 2013.  I am looking forward to 2014.  But like every year, I am very busy trying to get everything done for Christmas that needs to be done.  I am working on a special family project that I want to have done for Christmas—it is wonderful to see how people loved my uncle and how far into his community (and beyond) to say nothing of his family that his life reached.  But it is bittersweet too.

This song portrays the feelings I have about this project—I’m recognizing the sadness it brings to me, and perhaps the sadness it will bring to my family, but I also cherish the time we all got to spend together, and it’s with those thoughts that I can move—with hope and happiness—into the new year.

I don’t intend for this post to be a sad one; rather, I’m trying to convey the happiness, though muted, I feel and the small gem of hope for the future.

So whether you’re trying to just get through your December in order to accomplish things on your to do list or you’re struggling to get through your own sadness of some kind, I hope you’re able to do just that.  And perhaps this song can help you through it too.

Just get me through December
A promise I'll remember
Get me through December
So I can start again

For anyone who is interested, you can listen to the full song here.