Christmas Musings
Something switched in me this year. Maybe it was being out of the country over Thanksgiving so all the traditions sort of got shaken up. Or maybe it is just being older and wiser. But I’m having a simpler Christmas season - finally! I set up enough of the home to feel festive. I baked enough of the cookies to satisfy those cravings. I’ve shopped only basics and been done early. I’ve even made things to give I don’t usually have time for. I’m just so grateful for this unexpected swell of calm and peace.
It’s interesting, isn’t it, how in choosing to do bare bones, we give ourselves permission to settle in and accept this as good enough? Why in other times do we heap ourselves with high expectations and enormous pressure? Maybe it’s just a me problem, but in accepting bare bones as enough, I have found such peace and have let go of anything else that tends to clutter. Less is always more.
Speaking of less, I’ve been trying to tap into what is going on in my heart these days. Taking inventory, if you will. What else in my life can I shave down to find more peace? This inventory has me mulling through the complexities of motherhood and ministry and faith and the quieter things wanting space to come alive. What do I need to let go of so I can settle in to the things that ultimately matter and what can I accept as good enough within those things? I sometimes forget I’m a recovering perfectionist and when things aren’t good enough, that’s hard to sit with. But middle age is in my favor as I find more and more the desire to let things go. To accept what is and move forward. Even though.
Every year is always so different with many, many factors at play in our lives. But letting this year’s Christmas season be what it is without adding any sort of expectations or pressures has been a beautiful way to embrace what the season holds. More space for being. Less space for clutter and busyness.
Whatever your Christmas season holds, I genuinely hope you are able to find moments of peace and the head/heart space to embrace the beauty of this season. And all you perfectionists, try letting go a bit more. You’ll like life better! Does anyone resonate with any of this?
Happy Christmasing!
