dual personalities

It’s December and the pre-Christmas mayhem has begun, but I’m not letting any of that get to me. Nope. This year, I’m just going to enjoy everything. I might even start playing Christmas music today. There’s no big trick to maintaining the Christmas spirit. Just remind yourself of what’s most important — the birth of Jesus — and choose to celebrate that every day.

Keep it simple.

Don’t compete with the neighbors, and try not to get annoyed if they go overboard. Even so, no amount of neighborly love obligates you to help put up or take down their excessively ornate decorations.

Holiday Decorations in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn — Image by © Andria Patino/Corbis

If the light shines into your bedroom window and prevents you from falling asleep, it’s okay to ask them nicely to turn off the lights at midnight. You might mention that doing so will reduce the electric bill 🙂

Don’t stress over Christmas presents. It really IS the thought that counts. Most people just want to know they’re loved and that you think about them. They don’t expect you to come up with that one, perfect present every year. Ask yourself what gift would improve the other person’s life, and get that. Socks and a heartfelt card may be just the thing.

Cultivate repose. Find the time to read some poetry and contemplate the season. Let’s start with “December Stillness” from Siegfried Sassoon.

December stillness, teach me through your trees
That loom along the west, one with the land,
The veiled evangel of your mysteries.
While nightfall, sad and spacious, on the down
Deepens, and dusk embues me where I stand,
With grave diminishings of green and brown,
Speak, roofless Nature, your instinctive words;
And let me learn your secret from the sky,
Following a flock of steadfast-journeying birds
In lone remote migration beating by.
December stillness, crossed by twilight roads,
Teach me to travel far and bear my loads.

We all carry a load and have far to go, but if you remember what we’re celebrating, you’ll find your burden isn’t so  heavy and the distance not so long.

I’m off to bake some banana bread to take to the “greening of the church” party this afternoon. Then I’ll do some Christmas shopping and some decorating around the house. Tomorrow we’ll go to church and to buy our Christmas tree. I think it’s going to be a lovely weekend!