The holiday season can be so loaded or better stated, overloaded. I don’t think anyone is feeling neutral at this time of year. Maybe that’s because FAMILY and LOVE are involved and in such a magnified way
For some, this season is either a replay of beautiful, meaningful, fun traditions and reunions with beloved family and friends. For others, it’s an annual descent to hell of loneliness, family dysfunction, and anxiety.
Many holiday seasons I’ve survived on Vince Guaraldi Trio (Peanuts) music on repeat as it somehow calms my nervous system on overdrive. This year a trip down memory lane reminds and inspires me how blessed and grateful I am for the family of my own making that have carried me through this season time and time again.
It’s hard enough to put on the holiday for your own family but my sister of the heart went out of her way to take my girls Christmas shopping for me when they were small. This meant often taking her own small children plus mine out into the retail stratosphere, a blessed woman for sure. I‘ve lost count of how many Christmas trees she hauled home for me in her Suburban and it’s at her family’s table that I’ve been fortunate to experience the love and joy of the holidays.
Carving up the kids’ time in a divorced family can also put a dent in the most wonderful time of the year, especially if you don’t have a family of origin to fall in with. Here I’ve been saved as well, surprisingly and delightfully having spent more than one Christmas morning with my ex-husband’s family.
The point is it’s completely within our control to have the kind of holiday that fits us best, with the people who warm our hearts. Also, every Christmas doesn’t have to be a 10 and it bears remembering that for many people it’s not even close.
I’m for fewer gifts and more time together while keeping more dollars in our pockets. Asking for help and what you need and being accommodating to others (especially in traffic). And letting some things go in favor of sanity and joy. And of course, a good martini.