Create a Personally Meaningful Holiday Season
27 Friday Nov 2015
Written by Michelle in Thoughts on everything
Tags
Christmas Blues, Holiday Attitudes, Holidays, Meaning of Christmas, Meaning of Holidays, Personally Meaningful Holiday Season
Share it
Here it comes…
The holidays.
Are you ready for the bustle, the buying, the hubbub?
Are you ready for gentle lights, quiet warmth, sharing, generosity and reflection?
I love the holidays – on my own terms. (click to Tweet)
The free market has defined the holidays for us, as it was apt to do. And we’ve lapped it up, like milk from a saucer, just as the marketing analysts predicted. I’m not so interested in that. Is it me? Or is it just me? I’d like to celebrate a personally meaningful holiday season – because [Tweet “Like a defiant teenager, when I feel I’m being manipulated, I rebel. “]
The Black Friday sales never have interested me. Sure, I’d love to get deals on huge canvases and art supplies….but not at the price of buying into the whole idea that Christmas begins in September, and certainly not to mill in the grabby hoards of frothy shoppers…ewww. Besides, that’s “self-shopping,” one of the perils, though not in the spirit of the season. I’ve already purchased some gifts and the others will reveal themselves to me in time…hopefully….or at least my friends and family hope so! I’d like to select them in quiet solitude and have a deep connection to their meaning. Once, my mother put me in a deliciously tough spot. She declared, “You always pick THE MOST perfect thing.” No pressure, now, I’m a slave to selection…but have always felt honored she feels that way.
I’d rather continue approaching the holidays with the wide eyed 
wonder of a child and a quiet, open heart. I feel better about it that way. I look forward to December 22nd mostly – when the days get longer and the light comes back into the world. Does that make me a Pagan? If so, pass the cup and we shall dance a cloven hoofed jig!
I’m sure I’m not the only one conflicted with my definition of this time of year. What are the things that make December special to you? Here’s my short list:
• Gratitude for the sweet gifts in our lives
• A sense of spirituality and reverence for life’s mystery and God’s promise
• A reunion of family and friends and sharing cheer (that may be code for good wine)
• A time to wrap-up a chapter in our lives, move forward, and perhaps, to let go.
• The hope of a new year and all its potential – maybe even some review and goal setting
• The return of the light….with spring in the near distance and a renewal of commitment and life
So, this Black Friday, don’t hold the line for me. I won’t be coming. It’s just not my thing. If it turns your crank, that’s okay, I hope you have the best time. If you’re inclined to create a personally meaningful Christmas, by all means, do it! Feel free to leave a comment with your short list of holiday cheer…here.
Tis the Season,
Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who 
cultivates her own Well Lived Life by drinking in the beauty around her, following her passion, respecting others and owning her own shit.
Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter and on Instagram
The “2016 Art and Inspiration Calendars” are HERE!!! Buy one for you and one for friend while I still have some in stock! Each month features a painting and quote from the blog. The cost is $20 plus a shipping fee of $3.99 or they can be picked up in my R. Street Studio. 12 months of art and inspiration!!! You can order them here.
For a free gift that will help you boost personal productivity “Join the Tribe” and subscribe to this blog (on that sidebar to the left)
6 Comments
November 27, 2015 at 5:32 pm
Great message, Michelle – you won’t find me in those lines either as I’m purposefully staying away from the sale-crazed mobs as well. ‘Tis a time for family; friends; and lots of reflection….and preparing for the wonderful New Year ahead. Happy Holidays, my friend!!
November 27, 2015 at 6:09 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, JJ! I guess we won’t be shopping together, but am sure we’ll share some Christmas cheer! 😉
November 28, 2015 at 1:30 am
For the most part, out family has collectively decided that we all have enough “stuff”, and that Christmas gifts are no longer necessary. We still plan the Christmas feast and get together several times during the holiday week, but no gifts. It makes for a much less stressful holiday season.
I’m with you Michelle on loving art supplies! But only I know what I really need, so when I am feeling the “need”, I treat myself, and then I get what is most meaningful to me.
After that, some homemade jams, pickles, and baked goodies round out my gifts to those who I wish to thank for being a special person in my life during the year.
November 28, 2015 at 3:11 pm
It’s nice to have traditions that work you for you and your family, Susan. Have a blessed Holiday.
November 28, 2015 at 4:38 am
My family is like Susan’s and only a few small gifts are exchanged. I try to make the holidays a time of friends, family and food. It’s a time of gathering and communion and memories. I avoid “the sales” and people who know how much I love art supplies get me gift cards to my favourite art supply store if they feel so inclined. I have very few needs now that I have retired from my day job and now have the time to devote to art. I truly am blessed.
November 28, 2015 at 3:13 pm
I love the art gift cards, too, Claudia. I also love the idea of communing with family and friends and spending the time truly connecting with one another. People can get hurt at Black Friday, sales – laughing but not really cuz it’s true! I like buying gifts in the calmer hours. Have a happy Holiday!