Dear Beloved Ones!
Magic can happen when we decorate. Lights up, colors alive, memories singing. Tender kisses from the past blessing our space and communities during the holidays. The sights and sounds of the season bless us in ways we rarely acknowledge.
This year many of us are experiencing celebrations like none before. Three members in the past three years have passed in my family, my Mom and two brothers. My Dad passed away a few years ago. My dear brother and his beloved husband moved to Portugal two years ago last month, never imagining borders would close in a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic and travel restrictions keep us apart. So many of us are entering another holiday season incomparable to any in the past.
In the face of great change, we look for markers of grace. Music, as we explored in this Musing, is one of them. The memories and joys packaged as decorations are another.
May you find sweet comfort in festooning your home this season. May the memories held in the dressings of this time of year bless you and yours.
Season’s greetings,
Permission to Let the Decorations Bring Joy
Even if you don’t know how the holiday will come together, give yourself permission to decorate and let the decorations bring you joy anyway.
The times when we are in financial straits or going through a rough time in some other way, are especially the times to use what is at hand to celebrate the holiday.
Get out those items holding precious memories. Give them places of honor amid the home. Clean, dust and prepare your home in an expectant and thankful frame of mind. Turn your mind and heart to a celebratory tone in spite of, and maybe because of, whatever hardship you are experiencing.
Celebrations are contagious. Those precious items you have at hand can be rearranged in a different way this holiday. They can be part of your conscious effort to turn from limitation and worry to joy and thanksgiving.
You can consciously “tap into” the true joy or meaning of whatever celebration or holiday is at hand and ask for new gifts of the heart to emerge for you and your family.
It is not easy to have uncertainty about how you are going to manifest holiday dinners, holiday gifts or if you are going to be able to see family members and friends. This “excuse to decorate” does not minimize those worries lots of women and families face. Instead, it is a cause célèbre, a reason to rejoice and celebrate your beloved self and family. To be thankful for the decorations you have. Be thankful for a reason to “change it up” in your home and celebrate being together.
One Christmas when my son was very young, I had very little financially to be Santa. As a single parent I was striving to find a balance between parenting and making a living. The traditional management roles I had played before did not fit my vision of being a parent at the time and of wearing both parental hats. My Dad took me to the local Kids R Us right before the holidays and we did a whirlwind shopping expedition I will never forget. He let his joy for my son supersede his reluctance to be in a retail setting around Christmas. The latter was due to years working in retail. This memory of my Dad now gone nearly eight years brings a smile to my face every time.
Let the decorations speak to you of beloved family and personal memories, triumphs and joys. Savor the sweetness of their message and know they wrap their joyous “arms” around you during this holiday season, bringing forth new wonders and miracles!
AFFIRMATION
I celebrate (whatever holiday is at hand) by decorating my home with love. Joyfully I engage my friends and family in the holiday spirit with an open heart, celebrating the gifts manifesting for us! Gratitude fills my heart for the joyous and abundant nature of Life.
