If you (like me) feel blue and lost and unloved and marginalized this time of year, go read Laurie's post at Crazy Aunt Purl. It's not going to drive away the blues completely, but it will give you perspective about life as a journey.

This past week I realized that my two best holiday memories as an adult occurred in the company of strangers:

One Christmas, as a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer, I spent the entire day helping about 300 families whose apartments were damaged in a fire. (note to all apartment dwellers: keep fire doors closed in your hallways even if it makes it harder to carry packages in or out. Losing everything when the lobby xmas tree catches fire is a lot harder.)

The second was the year that my parents died; we went on a Hawaiian cruise over Christmas. On Christmas Eve anyone who cared to met in a bar in the center of the ship and sange Christmas Carols. There were about 150 of us sitting or standing around, joined in song. During the quiet moments, I still might feel the overwhelming sense of isolation; but, during the actual singing I was a part of a whole something.

Sounds like this year I need to find a soup kitchen or something...
I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.