I Don’t Want To Be A Chore:

-This playlist is for the feeling of trying to be easy to love. For holding your words back, making your hurt smaller, pretending you don’t need as much as you do, just so no one feels like staying with you is work. It’s for the quiet fear that one day someone will realize loving you takes effort, and decide they’re too tired to keep trying. I don’t want to be a chore. I just want to be something someone keeps choosing without thinking about why.

•Wings by Birdy
•Porch Light by Noah Kahan
•You and Me by Cameron Whitcomb
•Crooked the Road by Mon Rovia
•Refuge by Dermot Kennedy
•Steady by Bella Kay
•Muscle Memory by Isabella Contadini
•Anyone’s Dream by bennie
•Sailor Song by Gigi Perez
•David by Lorde
•Dirty Liar by Ike Dweck
•You Can’t Follow by Alice Rose Lyn
•Youth by Daughter
•If I Get High by Nothing But Thieves
•Meet You at the Graveyard by Cleffy
•Empty (Ballad Version) by Brook Lynn
•Drown by Emilie Su
•Already Gone by Sleeping At Last
•Someone To Stay by Vancouver Sleep Clinic
•Let Me Follow by Son Lux

Things I Still Believe In

Dear Santa,

I know it has been a long time since I wrote to you, but something in me felt pulled back to this small tradition, this quiet magic. Maybe it is the season itself. Maybe it is the kind of year I have had. Maybe it is the part of me that is still trying to believe good things can find their way to me. I do not know exactly why, but I do know I wanted to write.

This year has felt heavy in ways I never expected. It held moments of beauty, too, but also a kind of tired I cannot always explain. I think you understand that sort of thing. I think you have seen many hearts trying their best to keep going, even when they feel worn thin. Mine is one of them.

I am not writing to ask for anything extravagant. I think what I want most is a little steadiness. A small piece of peace that stays long enough for me to breathe again. I want warmth that lasts even after the lights come down. I want hope that does not slip through my fingers the way it usually does.

There are a few real things too. Simple things. A winter that is not too harsh. A soft morning to rest in. A day where my body does not hurt and my chest feels light enough to carry. A moment of laughter with the people I love. A reminder that I am not as alone as the dark sometimes tells me I am.

I would also love something symbolic. A sign that the year ahead will be kinder. Something small that tells me I am still allowed to believe in goodness, even after everything. Maybe it comes in the shape of a sunset or a handful of stars. Maybe it is a quiet reassurance I do not have to fight as hard as I used to. I would be grateful for whatever form it takes.

I know many people ask you for big things, impossible things, and maybe this letter is strange. But I think the heart of Christmas has always been this gentle honesty. The kind that shows up in simple words and quiet wishes. So here is mine.

Please bring a little light to the places in me that have been dim for a while. Please bring kindness to the people who need it most. And if there is room, please bring something soft for me too. Something that reminds me I am still growing, still healing, still here.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for listening to the small voice in me that still believes in wonder. I hope you have safe travels, clear nights, and warm cookies waiting wherever you go.

Sincerely,
Kelly