🦆 CHILL THE DUCK OUT

Volume 039: Believe in magic (yes, really).

🎄 Christmas Day

No science section today. No happytizer challenge. No research citations about why you should do this or that. Today, I'm just going to say what Christmas means to me, and hope it resonates with you too.

💭 What Christmas Means

Christmas, for me, has become about more than the day itself.

It's about peace. The kind that settles over you when you stop rushing and just sit with the people you love.

It's about kindness. The small moments when someone holds a door, pays for coffee, or just smiles at a stranger who needed it. You know, the stuff that costs nothing but somehow feels like you just saved Christmas. Low bar, high impact.

It's about hope. The belief that things can be better, that people are fundamentally good, that tomorrow holds possibility.

And it's about believing in magic. Not the literal "guy in a red suit" magic (though if you've got kids who still believe, protect that as long as you can). But the real magic. The kind that happens when you choose to see wonder instead of cynicism. When you decide that maybe, just maybe, the world is a little more beautiful than you give it credit for. When you carry that spirit past December 25th and into the regular, ordinary days that make up a life, like Tuesday mornings when nothing is sparkling and no one is singing.

Because Christmas magic isn't confined to one day. It's not in the presents or the perfect dinner or the Instagram-worthy decorations. It's in the decision to be kinder, more hopeful, more present. Not just today, but tomorrow, and the day after that, and all the messy, imperfect days that follow when nobody's wearing matching pajamas or pretending to like fruitcake.

It's in choosing peace when you could choose stress. Choosing kindness when you could choose judgment. Choosing hope when cynicism would be easier. Choosing to believe in something good even when the world gives you plenty of reasons not to.

That's the magic worth keeping. Not the tinsel. The tinsel gets everywhere and haunts you until March.

🫶 Thank You

I started this newsletter as a way to share what I've learned (and am still learning) about happiness, stress, and actually enjoying life instead of just surviving it. I didn't know if anyone would care. I didn't know if it would matter.

But you showed up. Week after week, you opened these emails. You endured goofy titles, like “I'm not a fishtologist, but I think goldfish are onto something”, “Lettuce be real”, and “Unroll yourself before you scroll yourself.” You shared your own stories. You told me when something resonated. You made this feel less like shouting into the void and more like a conversation with people I genuinely care about.

So thank you. For reading. For being here. For letting me be part of your inbox and, hopefully, a small part of your journey toward chilling the duck out.

This newsletter exists because you show up for it, and I don't take that for granted.

🎅 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Whatever you're doing today, whether you're surrounded by family, enjoying quiet solitude, working through the holiday, or somewhere in between, I hope you find a moment of peace. I hope you feel the magic, even if it's just for a second. And I hope you carry it with you into the new year.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. And thank you for being here.

Here's to more newsletters, more science-backed life advice delivered with questionable humor, and more reasons to chill the duck out in 2026.

Until next time: breathe deep, believe in magic, and chill the duck out.

Jason

P.S. No homework this week. Just be present. That's it. That's the whole assignment.