Well, it's done, Baby Jesus showed up
the wise guys are on their way
most of the wind horses are in their new homes
and as usual, we gathered yesterday with a few hundred of our closest friends that we just met, learned about happy endings in a charming place and time that was saved from being too Disney by that goofy Adam Sandler and were absolutely mesmerized by life lessons like "ya never know what's coming" with an added bonus of being set in a dreamy New Orleans and scenes of my youth, a beautiful film worth watching and of course there was that whole "Brad Pitt in a white tee shirt and blue jeans on a motorcycle" thing!
We enjoyed our traditional Christmas dinner of popcorn, Coke and Milk Duds but added Junior Mints and pretzel bites to keep it from being the same ole' same ole and now it's over and I can put stuff up and stop listening to Christmas music and get on with life. Next year I'll do things differently. The activity scene will be packed away until there are grandchildren to enjoy it and I will sort out only what is important to me and let go of all the rest. Not grinchy or scrooge like, just done. Except for the people and connections, this wasn't meaningful to me this year at all. I don't understand how it got this way. It seems so fraught with expectations, stress and disappointments for so many. Mine was a very simple celebration but still, not meaningful to me. Tangobaby had this quote on her blog a few days ago and I am using it as a guide for the new year.Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken or rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions simply because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefits of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. Buddha
And so, following the lead of Schmutzie, I will post a list of 5 things that have graced my life today.
1. New watercolor pencils
2. Lovely sunrise
3. Art supplies
4. Left over popcorn
5. The small flurry of snow in the sunshine
And let me ask you, has this ever happened to you? I was working with my new watercolor pencils this morning, warm and cozy all wrapped up in my blanket sitting by the heater (hey is was 25 degrees here today!!) and I realized that I had no water or brush to use with my new playpretties. I looked around and noticed that my tea had gone cold....
4 comments:
LOL, yep, I've had that happen.
I love your Christmas dinner! And I also love your openness and honesty about your feelings around this time. I have been energized by art this year, but for the most part I always find the holiday more of a dragging down than a lifting up. This year, though, I uncharacteristically remembered to center myself. To think of me and what *I* feel and what *I* love about Christmas and what *I* can do to make it fun for myself, rather than to think about what people expect. Because, really, do we ever know for sure? I think that's what does it for me--the expectations. I gave when I wanted to and otherwise decided that there will always be a new day to give to the ones I still want to give to. I just got out four lighted village houses and that's all. no tree, no foofarah, because this year I didn't want to. And I think concentrating on myself instead of expectations allowed me in an odd way to be more outreaching and grateful about the season. Of course, it's easy for me to say, because I don't have kids running around here.
I'm blabbing on, but it just seemed like a lot of us were feeling ho-hum this year, and it doesn't have to be. It seems to me that if we nurture ourselves first, we have more energy to nurture others.
Speaking of nurturing... time for a snack.
"Playpretties..." I haven't heard that expression since my grandmother died. She said that all the time when I was a child. It sounds like a magical Christmas indeed. How could it not be, with the addition of Junior Mints, that movie, et al??!! Bliss! xoxox
It sounds like you had a wonderful dinner. ; ) I adore this post. ; )
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