#40: Why Do We Need Rituals at the Edge of the Year?

☀️  The Threshold

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. At 10:03 AM EST, the Northern Hemisphere tilts farthest from the sun, and for a brief moment, everything pauses before the light begins its slow return.

We've built monuments to track this moment, gathered at Stonehenge to witness it, and created festivals around it. We light candles in the darkness, bring evergreen trees indoors, count down to midnight as one year becomes another. I like to think that the December rituals aren't just traditions, but more something that happens when we stand at the threshold between what was and what might be.

Maybe it's because December forces us to look both ways at once, backward at what we've lived through and forward at what we can't yet see. Maybe it's because the calendar's arbitrary ending gives us permission to close one chapter and imagine another. Or maybe, in a year that often felt overwhelming and uncertain, we're drawn to small, deliberate acts that create order and meaning when everything else feels chaotic.

This edition is about those moments at the year's edge, the books we pass along like heirlooms, the structured weeks that prevent burnout, the humble vegetables staging quiet comebacks, and the deliberate acts that help us mark time's passage.

📖 3 Articles to Spark Your Curiosity

1. How to appreciate what you have, even when it is not perfect
   Appreciation isn't the same as gratitude. It's recognizing value in the midst of difficulty, learning to see the world as it is while still working to make it better. Practical steps for listing what you have, reflecting on imperfection, and embracing a good-enough life.
   → Read on Psyche
   

2. “This extraordinary story never goes out of fashion”: 30 authors on the books they give to everyone
   Thirty authors share the books they gift most often. Robert Macfarlane gives Nan Shepherd's "The Living Mountain," a slender masterpiece about the Cairngorm mountains. Others recommend Philip Larkin's collected poems, darkly comedic novels, and stories that have shaped their reading lives.
   → Read on The Guardian

3. The year-end ritual that cuts stress and kick-starts your best January yet
   Most teams end December exhausted instead of energized. Executive coach Frans van Loef proposes the Wrap-Up Week: one structured week dedicated to closing loops rather than starting new projects. Finish tasks, document what you've learned, and clear mental bandwidth before the holidays.
   → Read on Inc.

🗞️ 3 Headlines Worth Exploring

1. AI startup Tavus founder says users talk to its AI Santa for hours per day
   People are spending hours daily talking to an AI Santa that remembers their conversations, responds to facial expressions, and searches the web for gift ideas. It knows if you mentioned wanting a PlayStation and asks follow-up questions about your favorite games. Children are hitting usage limits.
   → Read on TechCrunch
   

2. Winter solstice is nearly upon the Northern Hemisphere
   The winter solstice falls on December 21, 2025, at 10:03 AM EST. In Miami, daylight shrinks by just over three hours compared to June. In Seattle, the difference climbs to seven and a half hours. After this moment, the days slowly begin to lengthen again.
   → Read on AP News
   

3. 2026 will be the year of the cabbage
   After decades of terrible PR (boiled wartime recipes, the Cabbage Soup Diet), cabbage is staging a comeback! Pinterest searches for cabbage dumplings spiked 110%, glomupki soup rose 95%, and menu items grew over 20% year-on-year. The driver: fiber, gut health, and affordable produce in an era of wellness obsession.
   → Read on Business Insider

☀️ 3 Actions to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

1. Gift a book you've already given
   Think of the book you've recommended most often this year. Buy another copy and give it to someone who needs it. You don’t need to add anything else to this gift (maybe just a brief note to share your good wishes)!
   

2. Close one loop before December ends
   Pick one unfinished task that's been weighing on you. It doesn’t have to be the biggest or the most urgent, just one thing you can really complete before the year ends. Finish this task and allow yourself to feel the closure before the year ends.
   

3. Enjoy the solstice
   Today, at 10:03 AM EST, pause for a moment. Notice where you are, what you're doing. Sure, it’s just another minute in your day, but it's also the turning point when light starts its slow return!

⚡ 6 Quick Resources

🎄To explore: Christmas Statistics
77% of Americans put up trees, and 88% celebrate the holiday. Researchers even found the ideal ornament ratio: 6.2 per foot of tree height.
→ Explore on Christmas Tree World

🎨 To admire: Artworks That Define Christmas
From medieval paintings to modern interpretations of the holiday across centuries.
→ View on The Guardian

🎵 To read: What Makes a Song Sound Christmassy?
Musicologist Samuel Bennett explains how sleigh bells act as sonic shorthand, crooning vocals evoke nostalgia, and certain instruments conjure imagined simpler pasts.
→ Read on The Conversation

🔒 To keep in mind: How to Use AI Safely
A Google AI security engineer shares four habits: treat AI like a public postcard, know whether you're using public or enterprise tools, delete chat history regularly, and stick with platforms that have clear privacy policies.
→ Read on Business Insider

📸 To check: 2025 from above: Best aerial photos of the year
Reuters' best aerial photos of 2025 capture conflict, migration, elite athletes, and unexpected moments from around the world.
→ View on Reuters

🍹 To know: The Unhealthiest Christmas Drinks
Eggnog, hot chocolate with whipped cream, and festive cocktails can contain more sugar and calories than entire meals (but we can all agree to ignore this information during Christmas week, right?)
→ Read on Mental Floss

🎲 This week’s wonderfully random corner of the internet 

🎅 Google Santa Tracker

Track Santa's journey around the world on Christmas Eve, play games, learn about holiday traditions from different cultures, and explore the North Pole. I found this website a few years ago, and I keep coming back to it every year around Christmas time. It’s simply too cute and Christmassy!

→ Visit Google Santa Tracker

📝 Word of the Week

Solstice (Latin: sol meaning "sun" + sistere meaning "to stand still") - The moment when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marking the shortest or longest day of the year.

The word captures the deeper meaning that’s hiding behind this threshold. The sun doesn't just reach an extreme and keep moving. It pauses, standing still for an instant before reversing course. We can view the winter solstice as a turning point, the moment when contraction ends, and expansion begins. Every ritual we perform at year's end is rooted in this same impulse: to pause at the threshold, to mark the moment when one thing ends, and another begins.

🧘‍♀️ Question of the Week for Introspection

What ritual, however small, helps you mark the transition from one year to the next? And if you don't have one yet, what might it be?

See you next Sunday! Until then, keep your eyes open, your questions big, and your sense of wonder alive.

Your curious internet friend,
Ruxandra