Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light...
Thanks to wintergreen126, phdelicious, doom_cherries and elialys for the Christmas cards. They are all lovely. I am delighted with each of them. Thank you.
Thanks em_ethereality for the lovely Christmas ornament. I love it Em. I put it in a place of honor on my tree, right next to my wedding ornaments.
And last, but never least, thank you belismakr for the card and the cross stitch. You are such a sweetheart. Thank you.
*hugs all of you tight*
I just want you all to know, I don’t impress myself that often, but I have really rocked this Christmas thing in the past 3 days. Did all of my shopping Friday and Saturday. Made about four dozen handmade soaps and wrapped a dozen presents Saturday. While Savannah played in a chess tournament Sunday I sat in the media center and wrote out my Christmas cards. Came home got packages and cards ready to mail. Went to the post office yesterday at lunch…all cards and gifts in the mail ($72 later…sheesh). Made a giant batch of chocolate/peanut butter fudge last night and about 100 wedding cookies.
I’m not done by a long shot, but the end is in sight. I still have to bake some more cookies, but I did the majority of baking last weekend…I need to get my neighbors cookie tins together before Thursday so I can catch the ones going out of town. I need to make a German Chocolate cake for the family Christmas party on Sunday. Need to wrap more gifts (I so liked it better when we did the Santa doesn’t wrap thing)…but I have done so much, I feel really good about it.
And my muse is peeking out. If I had some time to write, some words might hit the paper.
But with all of this going on and the pressure (self imposed, I know) I am having trouble getting “the feeling.” I have had this conversation with several adults lately about getting into the Christmas Spirit and how it is so much harder as an adult.
Children have such an excitement about this season, there is so much wonder and magic.
But it’s hard when I’m all grown up (supposedly) and have to worry about the bills and who I’m obligated to buy for as opposed to who I want to buy for and if I don’t decorate the outside of my house do I look like Scrooge? and no, we can’t have tinsel because of the cat and when are we going to get together with who? and constantly doing checking account math in my head…well, it’s really hard to feel that unencumbered joy and rush of delight I did when I was a child.
I told my sangha the other night, though I’ve often said autumn is the most Buddhist of seasons, because it is easier to pause and really be in the moment in the fall, I think the holiday “season” is the hardest to be in the moment…I might be right here, but my mind is occupied with what I can get done tonight, what needs to be done tomorrow, Saturday…and on.
It’s not that I’m not enjoying myself, I am having fun and things are going to get more fun and more relaxing after tomorrow night…I am just stepping back and noting what we put ourselves through. We have to do all this stuff and still lead the life we normally do. Is it any wonder we rush out the door of the stores instead of wishing the cashier “Merry Christmas” or speed home instead of stopping to be enchanted with a neighbor’s light display?
I know I’ll probably never have the childlike joy of weeks of fevered anticipation (which is good…I don’t think I could live on the edge like that again) but I am looking for and know I will find moments of peace, wonder and magic…they will come in different forms (a neighbor delighted with cookies, a niece squealing over her gift, helping a stranger, hugging a coworker, actively loving my family).
Though our faith is practiced differently, I think printdust put it beautifully in an e-mail to me last week:
It's kind of funny how we all get caught up in making Christmas pleasant and wonderful for everyone else but forget to take the time to enjoy the peace and happiness of the season for ourselves. I was thinking about Christmas and the birth of Christ.
The shelter is getting ready, putting up trees, planning ginger bread houses and Christmas dinner. Lights, wreaths, gift baskets for clients. And I stopped to remind myself that Christmas is about the birth of Christ. About God's entry into this world. And he wasn't born into a beautifully decorated palace and a feast. He was born in a manger. A filthy, probably rank stable surrounded by hay. It wasn't about a grand entry; it was about the peace and love his entry brought. I'm trying to remember that when I start to panic about what I haven't done. If a donkey stall was good enough for the lord then what I can offer is enough.
Robyn is one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever come across and I can not argue with the wisdom and logic there.
What I have to offer is enough.
I leave you with some more sounds of the season…Christmas Number 1s, James Taylor at Christmas and John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together
And I wish you peace.
Thanks em_ethereality for the lovely Christmas ornament. I love it Em. I put it in a place of honor on my tree, right next to my wedding ornaments.
And last, but never least, thank you belismakr for the card and the cross stitch. You are such a sweetheart. Thank you.
*hugs all of you tight*
I just want you all to know, I don’t impress myself that often, but I have really rocked this Christmas thing in the past 3 days. Did all of my shopping Friday and Saturday. Made about four dozen handmade soaps and wrapped a dozen presents Saturday. While Savannah played in a chess tournament Sunday I sat in the media center and wrote out my Christmas cards. Came home got packages and cards ready to mail. Went to the post office yesterday at lunch…all cards and gifts in the mail ($72 later…sheesh). Made a giant batch of chocolate/peanut butter fudge last night and about 100 wedding cookies.
I’m not done by a long shot, but the end is in sight. I still have to bake some more cookies, but I did the majority of baking last weekend…I need to get my neighbors cookie tins together before Thursday so I can catch the ones going out of town. I need to make a German Chocolate cake for the family Christmas party on Sunday. Need to wrap more gifts (I so liked it better when we did the Santa doesn’t wrap thing)…but I have done so much, I feel really good about it.
And my muse is peeking out. If I had some time to write, some words might hit the paper.
But with all of this going on and the pressure (self imposed, I know) I am having trouble getting “the feeling.” I have had this conversation with several adults lately about getting into the Christmas Spirit and how it is so much harder as an adult.
Children have such an excitement about this season, there is so much wonder and magic.
But it’s hard when I’m all grown up (supposedly) and have to worry about the bills and who I’m obligated to buy for as opposed to who I want to buy for and if I don’t decorate the outside of my house do I look like Scrooge? and no, we can’t have tinsel because of the cat and when are we going to get together with who? and constantly doing checking account math in my head…well, it’s really hard to feel that unencumbered joy and rush of delight I did when I was a child.
I told my sangha the other night, though I’ve often said autumn is the most Buddhist of seasons, because it is easier to pause and really be in the moment in the fall, I think the holiday “season” is the hardest to be in the moment…I might be right here, but my mind is occupied with what I can get done tonight, what needs to be done tomorrow, Saturday…and on.
It’s not that I’m not enjoying myself, I am having fun and things are going to get more fun and more relaxing after tomorrow night…I am just stepping back and noting what we put ourselves through. We have to do all this stuff and still lead the life we normally do. Is it any wonder we rush out the door of the stores instead of wishing the cashier “Merry Christmas” or speed home instead of stopping to be enchanted with a neighbor’s light display?
I know I’ll probably never have the childlike joy of weeks of fevered anticipation (which is good…I don’t think I could live on the edge like that again) but I am looking for and know I will find moments of peace, wonder and magic…they will come in different forms (a neighbor delighted with cookies, a niece squealing over her gift, helping a stranger, hugging a coworker, actively loving my family).
Though our faith is practiced differently, I think printdust put it beautifully in an e-mail to me last week:
It's kind of funny how we all get caught up in making Christmas pleasant and wonderful for everyone else but forget to take the time to enjoy the peace and happiness of the season for ourselves. I was thinking about Christmas and the birth of Christ.
The shelter is getting ready, putting up trees, planning ginger bread houses and Christmas dinner. Lights, wreaths, gift baskets for clients. And I stopped to remind myself that Christmas is about the birth of Christ. About God's entry into this world. And he wasn't born into a beautifully decorated palace and a feast. He was born in a manger. A filthy, probably rank stable surrounded by hay. It wasn't about a grand entry; it was about the peace and love his entry brought. I'm trying to remember that when I start to panic about what I haven't done. If a donkey stall was good enough for the lord then what I can offer is enough.
Robyn is one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever come across and I can not argue with the wisdom and logic there.
What I have to offer is enough.
I leave you with some more sounds of the season…Christmas Number 1s, James Taylor at Christmas and John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together
And I wish you peace.