As I look at my small artificial Christmas tree decorated with ornaments from my mother's growing up years, mine, and my children's, I realize rituals change as life changes.
One of my favorite holiday photos is when my daughter was about three years old, and she was kneeling in front of the Christmas tree she had just put the topper on (with the help of her dad). The tree was six-foot-plus and very bushy - the kind you can tuck the lights and ornaments into. There were lots of packages under the tree, and she was just looking up at the tree full of lights and ornaments.
For years we would go to a lot and pick a tree, a tall bushy tree. There were years when the trees were smaller due to finances, but we always had a cut real tree. With lots of packages under it.
The family grew and shrank over the years, with marriages and divorces, and now has stabilized to three kids, one kid's lady, and three grandchildren - and my significant other.
My little tree has presents for two under it this year, since the kids and grandkids are scattered to the four winds, and I no longer live in the same state as my older two children.
So traditions like stockings, opening a small present on Christmas Eve, and making cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning have changed. No more stockings, no more small gift on Christmas Eve to appease anxious children, but I still make the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. This year, there will only be three of us gathered together. And that's okay.
Children grow up, families change, as does life.
And that is a gift unto itself.
Namaste!
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Sunday, December 20, 2015
MaXIMIze - Celebrate The Season
Wow - I did not realize I have not posted for the last two weeks! The first week was due to illness and last week was due to traveling. My dear friend is moving three states away, and I was helping him house hunt last weekend.
His upcoming move and the fact that my darling daughter will not be home for Christmas this year reminds me that time is passing and we have to celebrate the Season when we can as we can.
Even with all that has gone on in the world in the last few weeks, I still believe - perhaps more than ever - that we are all human beings first, and all else comes second. We need to acknowledge and celebrate our similarities, not focus on our differences!
So, whatever this Season means to you, celebrate!
Next week, I will wrap up with a review of the last year and a look at what next year is bringing for this blog.
Until then, Namaste!
His upcoming move and the fact that my darling daughter will not be home for Christmas this year reminds me that time is passing and we have to celebrate the Season when we can as we can.
Even with all that has gone on in the world in the last few weeks, I still believe - perhaps more than ever - that we are all human beings first, and all else comes second. We need to acknowledge and celebrate our similarities, not focus on our differences!
So, whatever this Season means to you, celebrate!
Next week, I will wrap up with a review of the last year and a look at what next year is bringing for this blog.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
MaXIMIze - Gratitude - Preparing for the Holidays
It is fitting that this post is coming out on 2 November - Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - a day when we remember, honor, and celebrate loved ones who have passed on.
While preparing for the holidays does mean the frenetic planning, cleaning, cooking and shopping we all seem to experience at this time of year, it also means preparing for and dealing with the thoughts and feelings that well up as families and other closes ones gather together (or not) during what is supposedly the happiest season of all.
The holiday season can bring up all sorts of memories - good and bad - and the feelings that go with them. It can bring up feelings of guilt, regret, remorse, loss, and lack that can sometimes be overwhelming.
I know this firsthand. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 1977, my father passed away from lung cancer at the age of 56. I was a mere 13 years old at the time. Some years have been better than others, but I still feel his loss most keenly during the holiday season. And that's okay.
Yes, it is okay that sometimes we are not happy during the holidays, that we are dealing with negative emotions more than positive ones.
The trick is to not let those negative emotions get in the way of appreciating what is is front of us - and that is true all year 'round, not just during the holiday season.
We do this by acknowledging our feelings and then choosing which ones to focus on - positive or negative.
Take some time when you are preparing for the holidays to consider how you deal with the "holiday blues" and what you can do to mitigate those feelings, where else you can focus your energy, thoughts and emotions.
When my father passed away, I was not yet mature enough to see his foibles and his sheer human beingness - he was still my hero in the strong innocent belief in shiny knights on white steeds that many young girls have.
So, it is easy for me to remember the good things - how he let me be a kid, banging away with a hammer and nails in the backyard, watching the Muppet Show and Hee Haw on Sunday evenings, making fried bologna sandwiches.
I lost my mom early too - in February 1987. She would have been 64 and I turned 23 that year. We had survived my teen years, and she saw my older two children come into this world with me.
Her I miss most at Halloween - she loved the spirit of the season and the costumes. I remember the Halloween that she dressed up as a fortune teller to pass out candy.
It's the good things I focus on and am thankful for this time of year - the rest is just noise to be ignored.
So again - instead of focusing on the negatives, focus on the positives and what we are thankful for in our lives, right here, right now.
Next week we'll discuss Sharing Thy Bounty.
Until then, Namaste!
While preparing for the holidays does mean the frenetic planning, cleaning, cooking and shopping we all seem to experience at this time of year, it also means preparing for and dealing with the thoughts and feelings that well up as families and other closes ones gather together (or not) during what is supposedly the happiest season of all.
The holiday season can bring up all sorts of memories - good and bad - and the feelings that go with them. It can bring up feelings of guilt, regret, remorse, loss, and lack that can sometimes be overwhelming.
I know this firsthand. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 1977, my father passed away from lung cancer at the age of 56. I was a mere 13 years old at the time. Some years have been better than others, but I still feel his loss most keenly during the holiday season. And that's okay.
Yes, it is okay that sometimes we are not happy during the holidays, that we are dealing with negative emotions more than positive ones.
The trick is to not let those negative emotions get in the way of appreciating what is is front of us - and that is true all year 'round, not just during the holiday season.
We do this by acknowledging our feelings and then choosing which ones to focus on - positive or negative.
Take some time when you are preparing for the holidays to consider how you deal with the "holiday blues" and what you can do to mitigate those feelings, where else you can focus your energy, thoughts and emotions.
When my father passed away, I was not yet mature enough to see his foibles and his sheer human beingness - he was still my hero in the strong innocent belief in shiny knights on white steeds that many young girls have.
So, it is easy for me to remember the good things - how he let me be a kid, banging away with a hammer and nails in the backyard, watching the Muppet Show and Hee Haw on Sunday evenings, making fried bologna sandwiches.
I lost my mom early too - in February 1987. She would have been 64 and I turned 23 that year. We had survived my teen years, and she saw my older two children come into this world with me.
Her I miss most at Halloween - she loved the spirit of the season and the costumes. I remember the Halloween that she dressed up as a fortune teller to pass out candy.
It's the good things I focus on and am thankful for this time of year - the rest is just noise to be ignored.
So again - instead of focusing on the negatives, focus on the positives and what we are thankful for in our lives, right here, right now.
Next week we'll discuss Sharing Thy Bounty.
Until then, Namaste!
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