The December Pause

Dec 28, 2025

Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of our 50501 CO newsletter!

In this newsletter, we discuss the natural lull in our lives during December. In addition, you’ll find information on upcoming activities from the 50501 calendar, actions you can take outside of protesting, and also find out about additional ways to connect with us.

See you on the streets! ✊✊✊

Actions and Activities

(The below list contains details on all actions this week and next week which have been submitted to our 50501 CO calendar; click the link above for more details and the full calendar)

Parker

1/4: 11:00am - 1:00pm - SPEAK NOW RALLY NOW/SPEAK NOW DEFY FASCISM (Lincoln Ave and Parker Road intersection)

The December Pause

Towards the end of December, the country slows down. Not completely, but enough that you can feel the shift. Emails taper off. Meetings get shorter. Traffic gets a little lighter. Even the news cycle catches its breath for a moment before the next year takes over. It is one of the only times in America when the pace softens enough for us to actually hear ourselves think.

That pause is more valuable than we realize. We spend the rest of the year moving at a speed that is not natural for anyone. The constant alerts, the constant pressure to stay informed, the constant sense that something urgent is happening somewhere creates a kind of emotional static that never fully goes away. December interrupts that. It creates a temporary clearing where life becomes a little more human again.

Most people don’t think of it like that. They just say the holidays are coming. There will be gatherings, travel, meals, gifts, stress, plans, and logistics. But underneath all of that is a quieter truth. The holiday season gives us a small and imperfect chance to step back from the noise and reconnect with the parts of ourselves that get buried during the year.

Sometimes that looks like a family dinner that is actually peaceful. Sometimes it is a night of laughing with people you have known forever. Sometimes it is the simple comfort of sitting on a couch with a blanket while the rest of the world fades away for a while. None of it fixes anything. It is not meant to. It just reminds us that we are more than the headlines we have been absorbing since January.

Of course, the pause is not perfect. Families are complicated. Memories get tangled. Grief is a fact of life for many this time of year. The season brings pressure to feel cheerful and grateful even when life has been anything but. The point is not to pretend everything is wonderful. The point is to give ourselves a little room to feel everything honestly, without the world demanding immediate action.

This pause can offer a moment to notice what the year has done to us. Not in a big dramatic way, but in the steady, ordinary ways that only show up when you finally slow down. Maybe you laugh a little easier than you thought you would. Maybe you feel more worn out than you admitted. Maybe you realize you have been moving on autopilot for months. The pause lets small truths rise to the surface that do not stand a chance in the rush.

There is something grounding about being in a room with people who have known you long enough to understand your laugh or your silence. Something steadying about hearing the same songs you have heard since childhood, even if you roll your eyes at them. Rituals that seem small carry weight because they stay the same when everything else feels unstable. They remind us that continuity exists, even when certainty does not.

January will come whether we are ready or not. The new year always arrives louder than the old one ends. But December gives us a chance to meet that shift with a little more steadiness. Not a list of resolutions and not a plan to reinvent our entire life. Just a clearer sense of who we are walking into the next twelve months.

The world does not pause often. When it does, even briefly, it helps us remember that life is not meant to be lived at full speed all the time. The slowing down is not an escape. It is a reminder that being present with the people we care about, laughing when we can, and letting ourselves breathe for a moment are not side notes to the year. They are part of what makes the rest of it possible.

Non-Protest Actions Bingo

The below bingo card contains a list of actions you can take (other than protesting) to help further the cause. If you get a bingo, tag us on social media to let us know!