It's another official holiday and I'm in Arizona with relatives. So many Christmases and changes. Still bright days and some shadows. New faces and many from old are gone. My heart still celebrates the season. It still believes in possiblilities and renewal. May we never be too old for that.
Families are like fudge-mostly sweet with a few nuts
Holidays can be tough on families. And depending on how your family is/was,well....Mine is and has been to paraphrase a bit from Charles Dickens: "the worst of families, the best of families." So there are some members I have close bonds with and others not so much.
In the last couple of years I have lost all of my uncles except one and I keep in fairly close contact with him. I spent an hour on the phone tonight sharing holiday memories with him. The hard part is he remains in the Midwest where I'm from so I don't get to see him often. The good part is because he doesn't get out and around as easily, he enjoys talking on the phone and we always have excellent conversations. Plus he has provided in recent months some pieces of puzzles that have existed for years in our family system.
So here's to our families, they can be the best of our times and they can be the worst, but they are there. Here's hoping that this holiday they are the best.
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
Hamilton Wright Mabie
In the years since my Mom passed I have decorated and kept more holiday traditions with the hope that they will continue to future generations of my family. But for me it's a time to reflect, renew and enlarge the heart. Granted it may look like a Christmas tree shop threw up in my condo and people may be ready for me to remove my holiday accessories at work by January. But it's fun and I won't trade this time for any other.As my hippie friends say:
I find myself taking refuge more and more in a quiet cup of tea. During the time I've been away I have returned to school of sorts and am in the process of becoming a certified life coach. So I find myself curled up in a chair, reading texts, developing a business plan... gaining new skills that I hope open up as the new year approaches.
Due to the recent election and what it could mean to this country and our future, I find myself sipping a cup of tea and contemplating what my response will be. I am a clinically trained social worker. The ethics I espouse encompass social justice and action. And action is probably going to be a response I choose, but I will observe, contemplate some more before I chose the action that is needed.
Finally in this season of renewal, I have created a ritual of stepping back from the holiday busyness and spending quiet time to appreciate all I have and have been given. To reflect on gratitude and share it with those I love. And to know that even as we approach the longest day of the year, to know what our ancestors have known for thousands of years: even when all seems darkest, light will appear and the hope for a better tomorrow is born anew.
Opening up shop again. I could give a million reasons why I wasn't here, but since I began my blog so many years ago in the holiday season....it called to me to return. Luckily no one had adopted my domain and I am back, working, studying and growing...
I'll say more in the coming days....but I did spend my time well...I'm adding ukulele and mandolin to my instrument playing efforts. And I'm studying to become a life coach (no specialization yet).
