Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we now enter the finish line with the month of December. In the month of December, you see it all. Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly. Jingle Bells. The barrage of Christmas-themed ads on television. The shopping malls stock full of customers shopping for loved ones, friends, and themselves.

However, not everyone is in the Christmas spirit. Not necessarily because they are the offspring of Ebenezer Scrooge. Perhaps the reason is because there are people out there do not celebrate Christmas, but another alternative holiday.

There are plenty of alternative holidays around, for those who aren’t into sneaking a kiss with their lover under the mistletoe, or the annual television airings of It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story.

There are a few alternative holiday celebrations in the Columbus area for those that celebrate Chanukah or Kwanzaa, which are the two biggest alternative holidays during the holiday season.

Bigotry, Civil Liberties, Counter-Recruitment, Culture of Peace, Demilitarization, Economic Cost, Endangerment, Environment, North America

Writer/director Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire epitomizes the type of specialty cinema that makes a cineaste’s heart go pitter patter when it plays at a favorite art house. On the other hand, popcorn munchers at the local multiplex used to superheroes, explosions and car chases would likely find this 2-hour foreign film subtitled in English to be excruciatingly slow - only “redeemed” by its hot lesbian sex scenes.

This French feminist film - which won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Screenplay and Queer Palme awards, and was nominated for Cannes’ grand prize, the Palme d’Or - is set in Brittany in 1760. Portrait ponders: How enlightened was the Enlightenment when it came to women and their rights? In particular, how reasonable was the Age of Reason when it came to the love that dared not speak its name - especially when it involved the female of the species.

The holidays are filled with the spirit of giving, often with the intention of bringing joy to loved ones. The aroma of cinnamon, clove and holiday spices are fragrant reminders of the pivotal way that herbs have implanted themselves into human lives. One cannot experience traditional holiday festivities without finding elements of herbalism at play. Boughs of holly, pine, fir and rosemary are very common adornments used in decorating for the month of December, all of which can be used medicinally. In remembering that these tools have more to offer than ambience, it provides a window to see a bounty of gift opportunities for family, community and the self.

Some wonderful herbal gift ideas are teas/tisanes, essential oil infused bath salts, or healing salves. The multitude of gifts found within herbalism are not just about the item given. Looking beyond the surface, they can be a greater invitation to help people find healing, vitality, connection to surrounding life, and a newfound mindfulness of the body. When giving gifts with the intention of healing, doorways for connection are opened.

Our dear friend, Margie Daffey has passed on.

Margie Daffey showed up on our doorstep when we asked for people to join us for the Voting Rights March the Rev. Jesse Jackson held in Atlanta in August 2005. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Margie had been a supporter of Columbus School Board member Bill Moss and shortly before we left for the march, Bill unexpectedly passed away.

Margie became a very active member of our election integrity movement in Columbus. In 2006, Margie was the key signature-gatherer for my campaign for Ohio Governor. In one day alone at Columbus State, she talked over 1000 students into signing my petition to get on the ballot. After she helped me on the ballot, she drove me all over the state of Ohio for campaign events in her white Lincoln.