True Gifts of the Holidays
By · CommentsWe never had a lot of money to use for gifts for the Holidays in our family. There have been times I minded that, when I wanted the newest what-ever as a teen, particularly. I also minded when I wanted to go out and buy all sorts of stuff for my children. Now? I have a very different perspective.
Those years of making things for Christmas, keeping the secret of what I was making from others, the small noises behind closed doors that signaled someone was working on something exciting, built an air of anticipation that was palpable. Just like making Christmas in “Little House on the Prairie”, each of us found time to do something special for the others in the family.
Making gifts for the others in our far flung family was also both time consuming and rewarding. One year we made soft stuffed cloth mobiles for the family on the East coast. We lived in the desert at the time and had an assortment of cactus, lightening and thunder, sun, moon, and coyote hanging from a branch. Another time I made pot holders of old jeans padded with an worn out cotton mattress pad and decorated with various motifs: pears, cherries, braid, stars, and apples. Some of these are still in use 30 years later! There were wall hangings, sweaters, mittens cut from old sweaters, and knit scarfs. Some years focused on elderberry jelly, spiced peach jam and various chutneys. There was even the year of homemade Kahlua!
I remember my Mother and Father making screen printed Christmas cards, carved wooden reindeer, and lots of different Christmas cookies. My grown children still ask for the Swedish wreath of sweet dough, raisins, and pecans that was always a holiday tradition when I was a girl. I’ll be making it again this year for Christmas morning! Yum Yum!
In our large family (we are up to 20) there is a premium on creativity. There is a tradition of re-gifting (I loved this, and I hope you like it too) and passing stuff down (younger cousins always love the books, toys, and treasures from older cousins). We also love second-hand stores, unusual clothing, and funny surprises.
This year we are doing something really special. Each of the ‘kids’ is writing a story from the days of the Green Van and my oldest daughter is putting it together with old pictures as a book for each of us. We are so excited by this it has taken on a life of its own! What an exciting project, and what a lovely present! You can’t find this in any store nor get it for love nor money – unless you put the time into it and make it yourself.
And that, my friends, is Christmas! We do get a few things for the kids to play with, and Santa always comes! There is an orange in the toe, a silly game, a special food, and we always hope for the bit of music, the new puzzle, a good book and a warm fire to toast our toes by after a while. The real joy comes from not having to go out shopping, no frantic tally of who gets what, and the steady joy of doing something for someone that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
Peace, friends! Joy of the season, a joy that comes from the return of the Light after the darkest day of the year! A gathering of hearts and kids and the warmth of remembrance for what has been; a pure wish for what is most dear to us all for the future; and a great love for what is now! That’s what this Holiday season is all about! It has been celebrated since the beginning of our human family, embroidered on by life and times, and still holding true today. Gift yourself with pleasure in the love that is in your life. Create a special moment of surprise for those you love, and leave out a plate of cookies for Santa, and a few carrots for the reindeer.
New Moon
By · CommentsThe New Moon is a time to set your intentions for the month. The dark of the moon is the pregnant void, the chaos point where all creation starts and all creation returns. This is a time full of promise and possibility. So I like to celebrate this phase of the moon with an eye towards creating the next month and, therefore, the rest of my life.
This morning I awoke excited by the New Moon. I rearranged some stones, cleaned up altar spaces, watered and tended my houseplants, and lit an incense stick and some candles. In the brilliant warm sun streaming through the kitchen window, I wrote a check to myself. The date was now, the name was mine, the amount was “Paid In Full” on both lines, and the signature space was the Abundant Universe. Than sends a very strong intent to the Universe, and no limit on how it is to happen! I put it in a sacred place.
The first 24 to 48 hours after the New Moon is a perfect time to dream the next steps you are taking in your world and on your journey. We are always at a decision point about what we are going to drop from our path and what we are going to bring in to our experience. Moment by moment we decide what’s next. Taking the time to make this an aware process and participate in our life actively is key. Paying attention at this level will change the world.
There has never been a time before when everything moves so fast, or changes so quickly. We need to adopt attitudes and activities that keep us fluid, ones that allow us to re-frame our lives and bring in a new script whenever we need one to take us forward to the next best moment. The New Moon allows me the perfect opportunity to reflect on my next (highest and best) step(s).
This monthly pause for reflection and introspection allows time to assess our jobs, our lives, our relationships, and especially our dreams! The New Moon is when the Dream Seed gets planted. It will either happen through a default program that you have been using for years without thought, or you will interact with your own future by becoming aware that you can. It will either be the same old same old, or you will decide to ‘play’ with the program yourself!
The New Moon: A time for intention, ceremony, visioning, and setting the dream for the next month. Just throw one old thought, feeling, belief, or decision out and replace it with a new vision, a new intent. Only one old one out and one new one in each month, or we will feel overwhelmed! Have fun creating some ways of marking this as a special moment in your life. No time? Take a little pocket notebook with you and simply write what’s in and what’s out on the New Moon once a month. Then notice your life…