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Laissez les bon temps roulez. And the good times do roll in the southeastern parishes of the Creole State. I found out recently. Almost as easily as this famous Louisiana expression rolls off the tongue.

Whether we continue to prepare ponche or instead opt to try something new. Even if we are not in the same city, will we continue to honor and celebrate the memories we once shared together? Will we carry on a portion of those holiday traditions with us in our own way? These are all rhetorical questions, of course. Not meant for us to answer for anyone else but for ourselves.

“We present the Migrant Anthem, performed by the collective Legado de Grandeza. For it being their day, we have prepared this gift with all our hearts for our fellow countrymen and countrywomen on the other side of the border.” That is the official description published by the Mexican government of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo this week with the release of this new anthem for migrants, or expats that was just released.

For a generation that likely grew up being told that being bilingual was important and necessary, but who’s own parents may not have been fully bilingual themselves, this act of self-affirmation is a symbol of embracing their true selves and challenging the stigma that in order to be fully Latino one must be fully bilingual. It’s their way of saying, language is not the definition of identity, and not the measure by which we should be criticized or judged on how connected we are to our cultural heritage.

That or any other quintessential holiday song is what comes to mind when thinking about the holiday season and all the traditional festivities we are all supposed to partake in magically no matter what is really going on in our lives. That’s the thing about this time of year. For some reason, so many of us seem to believe we are supposed to feel a certain way, act a certain way, and be overtaken by a certain spirit or feeling that if we are not we feel like something is wrong. If this year we happen to feel it, all is good in the world. If we don’t, that is when the self doubt and self criticism can creep up.

Everything comes full circle. At least that’s what they say.… Read more: Volviendo a lo mismo

Casa de los Famosos is in its third season on Telemundo. Navidad was scrutinized and, as she describes it, blacklisted from working in Mexico after her political views and belief in extraterrestrial life came under fire during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Challenge accepted. For this group of Texas Latinas waiting almost two years to achieve equal pay, this year, was motivation enough to commit to closing the wage gap in the future. Gathered as a collective group in Houston, #Latinas4EqualPay utilized Latina Equal Pay Day 2022 to organize and establish a new coalition for change. In 2022, awareness for Latina Equal Pay Day fell on December 8th. This day serves as a reminder of the critical role Latinas play in the workforce and also highlights how Latinas are often paid less than their counterparts.

This year has been nothing if not unexpected. Earlier this month I was meticulously cleaning up the photo albums on my phone for about three or four hours. To be honest, doing so was not something I had planned to do – especially not over the end of year holidays, but once I got started I couldn’t stop. Soon enough the word purge entered my mind and I decided that is precisely what I was doing.

Two years ago I did honestly think this blogging thing was behind me. There were a lot of things happening in my life and none of them seemed to be perfectly aligned. Never mind the fact that a global pandemic had just stared wreaking havoc on all of our lives. At varying degrees wherever we were stationed in life at that given moment.