Personally Meaningful Holiday SeasonHere 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 Personally Meaningful Holiday Seasonwonder 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:

Personally Meaningful Holiday Season• 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,

11782161_10207494863919739_64633069007983764_o

 

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who Writer, Artist, Coachcultivates 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

Screen Shot 2015-10-22 at 9.05.02 PMThe “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)