Hibernal ℰ𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉 𝒩𝒾ℊ𝒽𝓉𝓈 ℴ𝒻 𝒮𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒥ℴ𝓎𝓈

[GremlinSage]

Welcome to this small, cozy Hanukkah celebration! This year, the Festival of Lights runs from the evening of Sunday, December 14th to evening, Monday, December 22nd, which is exactly how long this event will go.

I set this event up to include everyone, of all belief backgrounds, so don't be afraid to use your own beliefs, a character's POV or your own, and you can even include your own holiday (i.e. Christmas, Kwanzaa, Easter, April Fools).

Each night on my profile wall, I'll have a candle lit with some lesser known facts along with it about the holiday.

You can post in this thread!

How to Participate

⠀

Choose any way you like! Everything is optional. This event is meant to be calm, warm, and low-pressure.

• Share a small joy from your day
• Post something in a blue/white/gold aesthetic
  • Can be a photo, art, painted figure, or something else, as long as you made it. AI is not acceptable.
• Respond to a nightly theme

Nightly Themes

⠀

While not universally practiced, each night does have a theme.

Night 1: Gratitude
Night 2: Family
Night 3: Courage
Night 4: Hope
Night 5: Kindness
Night 6: Learning
Night 7: Joy
Night 8: Light spreading outward

I am not restricting anything by date, so feel free to jump in at anytime! You can even use the nightly themes out of order!

 

[GremlinSage]

I am grateful for firefly for being the best.

Seriously, I am rather grateful finding this site. It's been awesome, meeting new friends and helping with events to keep the community going. This has definitely become my home the moment I wake up.

Don't judge me.
Judge firefly.

 

[MioBrave]

(I assume we post here. If not, we'll make James fix it.)
I'm grateful to this site as well. I've made some amazing friends here and really gotten to grow as a person. There's also so many ideas that have inspired me. Y'all are brilliant.

I'm also very grateful for my Mellow Mushroom, for all the friends and lessons I've learned here as well. I'd still be far too shy and squeaky if I had never started working here.

 

[Vacyr]

To not sound like a broken record, I echo the sentiments above about the site and its wonderful people but will also say something different so its not just the same post dozens of times.

I'm grateful for the kindness of my neighbors as a newcomer to the street I live on.

This morning, I woke up to 5 or 6" of snow and realized that my spouse and I weren't prepared for a actual snowfall (something that doesn't melt throughout the day). No salt, no shovels, and everything buried in white. I sent a message to our neighborhood group and the generosity poured in. Not only were supplies shared but a passing snow plow stopped to help, probably cutting my job in half.

In a world where kindness often feels rare, it's heartening to know there are still people willing to lend a hand to a stranger. Maybe not all New Yorkers are assholes after all ;)

 

[Crenna]

I am very grateful for this site as well. I haven't felt this creative in a long time and I have really loved getting to know my partners and just having an outlet to escape too.

This year has had a lot of ups and downs but I am thankful that with every down, I have had support from friends and family and with every up, I have been able to enjoy myself and just accept the good. This also feels like the first time in a long time that my mental health is actually good so I'm thankful for that.

 

[Jumbled]

I'm grateful to be a part of this holiday with you, to recognize other customs and joys that I wouldn't otherwise get to experience or learn about.

I don't have a Menorah but I did light a candle tonight all the same.

This community is something special and I'm so glad I get to spend time here each day, finding new and fun was to tap into my creativity.

My daughter keeps playing "HANUKKAH, OH HANUKKAH" on the Alexa and I think that's pretty cool, too.

 

[JamesMartin]

I'm grateful for all the staff (except Jumbled, who makes me work ). This place just wouldn't work without any of you. With so many moving parts, having a team that is so willing to just pick up any work that needs to be done, often without even needing to be asked, is worth its weight in gold.

And, because this usually gets left out of our end-of-year thank you thread, I'm especially grateful for @Otys. So many other sites like this get pulled apart by bickering admins or neglected by absentee ones—I cannot find words to convey how much it helps to work with someone who is willing to collaborate on solutions rather than impose them and share the admin workload.

 

[GremlinSage]

Soooo a small little joy today is that I managed to do my oral presentation for English comp and I finished my first semester. I am tired man, but I feel good.

 

[MioBrave]

Yay! Congrats Grem! Get some much needed rest for your brain after all that.

I know you said we can go out of order, but I'mma just go down the list. Night two is family...
So, I'll share a couple pictures of my fur baby.

Spoiler: Bagel!

But also, some extra thanks to my younger sibling for being pretty cool I guess.

 

[Crenna]

I am super thankful for my brother as I have always been able to be myself around him.

As for a little joy, I finally finished building my Ikea furniture and got it placed in my closet!

 

[Inquisitor Xeno]

I wasn't feeling well yesterday so I wasn't able to contribute but:

Night 1: Gratitude

I am very grateful to everyone here that has helped me reclaim my creative spark! Sometimes it's the little things that come together and really bring that push to be better not just for yourself but for others that depend on you. The winter holidays are especially hard for me, as it is for many others, due to some awful occurrences that happened during this time a few years back. However finding my spark again has reminded me that it's not the hurt that defines us, it's how we use that experience to shape us for the better, and I'm grateful that I'm getting back to holding my head up high and treating myself with the dignity and care that I deserve.

Night 2: Family

While I'm not physically close to a lot of my family right now, the only ones being with me are my daughter (obviously), my Grandfather, and usually my husband but he is currently working out on the Chicago river (which is far from our home). Even then, my family near and far have always supported me no matter where I am and it's been very helpful and needed during this season. I also have a lot of 'found family' that support me and I hope that I give them the same loved feeling that they give me. Family isn't always the people that you're blood related to, it can be the people that make a difference in your life as well. No matter what next year brings, good or bad, I know that I have all of them to weather it with.

 

[firefly]

Dang! I was ready to go yesterday and I forgor

Well, it seems superfluous now...but I am ALSO grateful for this site >:O it's become one of my main sources for creativity, inspiration, and community even though the entire nature of my job is "creative", it's not always the type that feeds me and helps me grow as an artist, and so often the little writing challenges, artsy aestivals or little pop-up events like this one is the only way any of y'all get something out of me all month. Which leads me to my next point...I am also extremely grateful for the friends I've made here, and my ever-patient writing partners who are a constant source of PATIENCE yes, but also support and inspiration. Y'all are the best.

me -> (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ ) ♡ <- you guys

And, for a little joy to an otherwise frantic and exhausting couple of months, I got surprised with a little trip for my birthday this weekend by some incredible friends! I am very lucky to be loved and supported by a wide network all over the world, and I want to always remember and acknowledge that ♡

 

[TheMoonAuthoress]

Congratulations in advance @firefly, and to the trip

Jumping on the grateful-train for this site
I joined first to improve my awful English writing, but now years later I've realized I wanted to find a place where people don't care who you are really or from where.
I left another RP website, where I hung around for a looooong time but slowly started to feel left out...
But here I've found new amazing friends who I've RP with for years now, write with everyday and are so happy and grateful to know
If I can, I try to sign in every day, Sanctum is easily one of my most visited website (lol even far over YouTube).

As for a little joy, my house finally has a new roof again, yaaaay ~
(it needed to be replaced baaaadly).​

 

[Vacyr]

Night 2: Family (yesterday)
This year my family expanded, taking on ten+ individuals who I now call in in-laws, nephews, and nieces. I was raised in a very quiet and traditional family and these folks are anything but. At first I had the 'what the hell am I getting myself into' thoughts but their bottomless kindness and love has inspired me and even made me a more generous person in the years I've known them.


Night 3: Courage (tonight)
December marks the time I chose to turn my life around. It meant facing my deepest fears and trusting that I was worth saving, then waking up each day and choosing that path again and again. Over one thousand days later, I'm reaping the benefits, but it all began with that first daunting step.

 

[Inquisitor Xeno]

Night 3: Courage

Courage comes in many forms. Some that we don't even realize, and I'm starting to learn that I'm more courageous than I thought I was. Looking back, I can see many times where I did the right thing even though it could have or did cost me my job, friendships, and even good standing with family. I don't regret any of those times that I did that, because I will always stand strong on my beliefs and don't let bullies walk all over me anymore. Sometimes all it takes is one person to stand up and say 'NO' to turn the tides and start change for the better. Because if there's one thing I want my daughter to learn, is that we never sit back and watch when we can stand up and do what's right, even if it's scary. Even if no one else around us is doing the right thing.

But there's also small, daily courage, like going out and taking that walk through the neighborhood even though I'm nervous about people seeing how I look as I'm starting to get active and do what I need to do to feel better. Or my daughter learning that a lot of bugs aren't so bad, and that the dark isn't always so scary and she can take her nightlight with her if she needs something at night.

Courage, whether it's big or small, is something to be celebrated.

 

[sleepybear]

Catching up! This is a wonderful space. What follows are my reflections

Night 1 (Sunday): Gratitude
After the first three months of the year, I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I wasn't expecting much after my lay off this time last year. One year is all it took to go from unemployed to dream job. A few doors needed to be opened and stepped through. Two failures occurred. As the saying goes, third time is the charm. I am now in my dream job. I work with extraordinary people. I hope, every day, I can learn and grow into a mentor for those around me. I waited ten years, well, waited is incorrect. Allow me to correct myself, I struggled, I persevered, I wanted, I begged, I looked, I tried for ten years to get where I am today. My title is deeply personal and reflects a lifetime of growth. This year and moving into 2026, I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, my team, my employer, and the doors that have opened for me to have a financially stable future.


Night 2 (Yesterday): Family
Ohana means family. And family means, no one gets left behind. Disney writers sputter cute sentiments ignored by adults consuming said content. At least, the adults supposedly raising children at the time most are vocalized through speakers. Lilo and Stitch is a story of both a broken family and a found family. My inner elderly woman wants to spew a diatribe on what a privilege it must be to have a cohesive family, even with its flaws. I'm not old enough to care less just yet, young enough to still be a hopeful fool. I come from a family that enjoys roasting marshmallows over a burned bridge, relishes in closing scissors against family ties. Some actions, for the better. Others? I haven't seen parts of my family for years, and have never seen my extended family. Meanwhile, my friend-family talks every day. We build our own little traditions and are always there for one another despite the distance. I guess, in that way, Stitch also demonstrated how to build relationships after trust is broken. A lesson I hope to bring into the new year, my "genetically related" family in tow.


Night 3 (Today): Courage
As I consider the word as a prompt, the first sentiment I conjure in my mind is, what is courage today? I think to be courageous today, or in modernity, is to express empathy. Listening, not just to speak or sympathize, but allowing ourselves to feel the emotion pouring from another person. I think, in neuroscience, empathy is boiled down to "mirror neurons" in it's most basic, highly boiled down state. Think ELI5, but even more simplified than that. I think it takes courage to tell someone with full conviction and promise that you are there for them. Maybe not for long. Maybe not later. In those moments you are there and available for that person. I think it takes courage to love, to accept love, and to explore love. As I reflect, I believe true courage or demonstration of courage, is demonstrating empathy.

 

[MioBrave]

Day 3

Courage is a big thing for me. I often call myself a coward, but I think it's important to acknowledge how far I've come. I used to be afraid to talk to people entirely. Having a job sort of breaks you of that pretty quickly. I'm very proud that I can talk to people more easily now. I've even gotten better at serving, when I swore I wasn't even going to try.
Adulting is scary. But, little by little, I'm figuring out how to dig myself out of this pit I've kind of trapped myself in. I'm just hoping that I can find the courage to fully pull myself out.