It’s a week before Christmas and I’m ready. I really am ready and I’m still enjoying the preparation process. I’m also staying caught up on my client work, article writing, book promotion and shipping.
If you read my December 6, 2006 blog entry, you know that I tried a new tactic this year in order to create a more joyful holiday experience for myself. And guess what? It is working!! I am doing all of those Christmassy domestic things I used to enjoy, my house looks adorable and festive all lighted and decorated up and I am actually feeling a part of this most joyous season. I’m convinced that my attitude has made the real difference in my experience. But I had to purposefully slow down and smell the pumpkin pie.
I guess I’m not the only writer who has been writing through the holidays instead of participating in the festivities and fun. Several colleagues contacted me after reading that early December blog entry to say that they, too, have been holiday drop-outs. Like me, these writers have come to resent the intrusion of the holidays while also mourning the loss of old traditions. Like me, some of them planned to take a week off from writing this year and immerse themselves in the warmth and wonderment of the season.
You might be happy to know that I accomplished a lot during my week off and that, because of that week spent mostly away from my writing and editing work, I have adopted a greater sense of joy that is carrying me entirely through the Christmas season. Yes, I am a walking/talking, one-woman advertorial for Christmas this year.
This morning I was waiting in line at the downtown post office when the woman behind me started grumbling, “This is the busiest mailing day of the year, so I got here when they opened and here I am standing in line. They really should have more than three clerks—people really do need to be more prepared when they arrive at the post office…Grumble, Grumble.†Do you know what I told her? “You know, the fact that you’re standing in line at this moment might be saving your life. Because you’re here, you may be avoiding a horrific accident that’s happening right where you would be otherwise.â€
I say that often while waiting in line with grumblers. Some people will look at me as if I am crazy and sometimes even move to another line or simply leave. Others will think about it for a few moments and then say, “Gosh, I never thought about it that way.†And I can actually see them start to relax a bit.
Sometimes I mention to impatient grumblers that it helps to think of waiting as an opportunity to meet people, to learn something new or to just be quiet and meditate. Of course, many people make waiting an opportunity to complain.
Speaking of complaining, you hear folks say that Christmas is too commercial—that all of the mystery and magic is gone. And I say to these people, “Christmas hasn’t changed as much as your approach to Christmas has changed.â€
People say that kids don’t appreciate the simple things about the season. They’re too greedy and want all of these expensive things. And whose fault is that?
Just as you can learn to once again enjoy the magic of Christmases past, you can teach your children to appreciate the sweet and charming things about the holiday. I hope I have helped families to put more joy into their Christmas celebrations through the articles I’ve written over the years on this subject. Here are a few of my ideas:
1: Don’t cave in to your children’s demands for expensive electronic gadgets throughout the year and they won’t have such high expectations during the holidays.
2: Limit TV watching so they aren’t as likely to get caught up in the commercial hype.
3: Arrange for your kids to buy or make gifts of their own to give. One year, I took a 9-year-old neighbor boy shopping at the 99 cent store with a $20 bill and a list of about 11 family members he wanted to buy for. He spent over an hour carefully choosing just the right gift for each member of his family. Back home, we sipped hot cider while wrapping each item. Boy was he proud. He’d never had the experience of giving before. Later, when we talked about his Christmas day, he didn’t even mention what he received. But he shared with delight, stories about his family members’ responses to the gifts he handed out. He told me that day, “This was my best Christmas ever.â€
4: Plan quiet moments during your busy holiday weeks. Take your children to see a Christmas pageant, attend a church program, walk along candy cane lane or drive around looking at the decorations in your community. When you return home, gather around the fireplace or the Christmas tree and sip hot chocolate with peppermint sticks and marshmallows to warm up.
5: Invite a few special neighbors in for refreshments. Take turns reading Twas Night Before Christmas or another holiday classic. Or organize a neighborhood caroling stroll.
6: Adopt a less fortunate family for Christmas. Encourage your children to help choose gifts, box up the food and deliver the package.
7: Visit a nursing home with the children and hand out candy canes or homemade holiday cards.
8: Invite someone who will be alone to join your family for Christmas dinner.
9: Take a plate of food to a shut in on Christmas day.
10: Let the kids participate in the tasks related to Christmas preparation. Explain the reason for the various traditions—putting up the nativity scene, for example. As you decorate the tree together, share stories of some of the special ornaments you’ve collected over the years.
11: Recapture some of the old family traditions that make sense and embrace new ones that come of necessity because of divorce and other creative family situations.
12: Make some of your holiday gifts and encourage your children to do the same. Watch for gift ideas throughout the year. Maybe you can learn how to knit or crochet scarves, make living wreaths, do quilting or arrange dried flowers attractively. Help the kids decorate little boxes with seashells, make note cards, make pot holders from rags, cook doggie treats or bake cookies, for example.
13: Keep writing throughout the season even if you are spending your allotted time journaling, writing personalized Christmas cards or Christmas letters. Log your holiday experiences, thoughts and especially your realizations, insights and awarenesses. This material could develop into articles or even a book.
14. And don’t forget to promote your book everywhere you go. Carry at least one copy of your book with you. Show it to the owner of the new gift shop in town. Mention it to someone you meet while waiting in the long line at the post office. Talk about it to the old friend or colleague you run into downtown. Take a stack of books with you to meetings and other gatherings. I placed copies of my local history book with a new tourist store this month and I’ve sold about a dozen copies of my writing books, local history books and my newest book on my adventures in Dubai, just by having them with me when I happen to run into someone.
Will you enjoy the holidays this year? You can approach the many tasks begrudgingly and with resentment. Or you can choose to enjoy every moment of the season. Remember, the joy is not in the day, it is in your heart. And it is up to you to find it and embrace it.
Happy Holidays everyone.
If you are thinking about writing a book or you are at any stage of the process, be sure to consult my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html