'Tis the season when the world seems to go into a frenzy of consumerism. We are between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are ads everywhere tempting us to the malls and stores with sales. One begins to feel somehow grinch-like or just plain "not in the spirit", if you don't get on board.
But I am not on board. Sorry. I'm just not feeling it. I know it's early. There is a chance I will rally late in the game. But I sit here and reflect on other holidays and remember what it was to be so completely invested in the season. Decorating the house, baking the cookies, planning and shopping for just the right gifts for family and friends. In more recent years, I have often summoned a burst of creative energy at this time of year to make something homemade. Some inspiration would strike and I would enlist my very handy and capable husband to help me make bird houses or bath salt holders or "A New Years Eve celebration in a glass". And it was lots of fun to share those gifts. I still love to make things and I certainly love to cook as well. But having the energy to do this requires time and this year it just feels that I don't have enough of that. With a very busy job and lots of business travel coming up, something's gotta give.
When our kids were small, the shopping and planning was incredibly intense and elaborate. But I don't feel that pressure any more. I don't need to do anything that I am not motivated to do. Perhaps that is the gift of this time of my life.
The last few years have forced us into a new flexibility about what gets celebrated when. We have had a medical resident in the family who has had to work several of the last Christmases. So we've moved it up or back. Of course with small children in the household, it would be impossible to do that. When kids are counting the days and everyone around them is doing the same, throwing your Christmas on Dec 24th or 26th would just not fly. But for us over the last few years, it hasn't really mattered. So I feel myself slowly but surely letting go of so many of the trappings of the holidays.
Will I get it back? I'm considering that I might if I have a new generation of small fry with which to celebrate the holidays. (By the way- no pressure kids) I know from the friends in my life with grandchildren that the joy returns. The holiday shopping takes on new meaning. There is no end to the joy of buying adorable clothing or wonderful children's books or toys. So perhaps this is just a lull between the joys of parenthood and the joys of grand-parenthood. I like to think that's it.
I also think that moving to Vermont has given me a new appreciation of keeping things simple, of moving away from a life of too much consumerism and excess. When you live somewhere with so much natural beauty, the need for "things" seems to recede. So this season, whatever you celebrate, I wish you simple pleasures and the joy of doing only what you are moved to do. If it's all about homemade gifts, do it. If there is some special gift that you are excited to give to someone you love, then give it with pleasure. If you are motivated to be generous and to give to people and causes who need the help, I applaud that too. There is so much need in the world. However you navigate the season, do it from a place of generosity and appreciation all that we are lucky enough to celebrate.
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