Sharing the Light

I had to laugh when I found this pic in my Christmas collection. We all reach a time when we say, "I think I'll down-size the decorating this year." Back when I was younger, we went all out, stringing lights and pine swags outside on the porch, and decorating inside until there was nowhere you could look without seeing Christmasy stuff...even in the bathroom.

I think Christmas decorating goes in a cycle that matches our life cycles. When we're children, our parents try to make it special. Then we reach the late teens and we're sort of blasé about the holidays. THEN we move into our own apartment/home and maybe get married so we start collecting our own decorations. Through the years (and as our children come along if we have kids), the decorations sort of multiply like rabbits or guinea pigs. By that time our children are old enough, we start 'sharing' our collection with them when they leave home. Gradually, we weed out the older ornaments. And finally we reach the point where we enjoy a minimalist style of holiday decorating.

The hunk and I have reached the minimalist stage. We have a teeny little tabletop tree with sparkling  fiber optic lights. Each year we take it out, fluff it up, plug it in and we're done. We have a great wooden Santa head plaque our friends, the Blunts, sent us from Texas our first year in New York. The Santa has a cowboy hat. It was a wonderful reminder of 'home'. And we have a ceramic nativity set we've had for...forty years. That's the sum total of our decorating. I don't miss all the other stuff.

I may haul the big tree and all the decorations out sometime in the future, but not this year. And I'm comfortable with that. I like looking at pretty trees. In someone else's living room. So please post those pics of yours. That's the great thing about social media. We can all share our traditions, spreading the good cheer with all our friends, wherever they are!

This year there are many displaced, perhaps suffering the loss of their decorations through fire, flood, or wind. We often think about making sure people have presents (especially children) or having a special meal, but perhaps if you're one of those folks with toooooo many decorations, you might look around and find some one to share them with. Buy a small tree. Help them decorate their space. Share a box of homemade cookies or candy. It doesn't take much to ease some of the sting of loss.

From our home to yours...Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and blessings for the New Year.