What does the “spirit of this holiday season” mean to you?
I want to acknowledge that not everyone celebrates Christmas and for many years growing up in Canada we would say “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” to be politically correct as to not offend anyone.
However, since moving to Australia with a strong representation of people celebrating Christmas I have grown more comfortable with allowing myself to say Merry Christmas.
That showcasing your believes, doesn’t mean you are offending or dismissing other believes it is simply showcasing your symbol of this season and how you choose to celebrate it especially in this country.
Over the past few years as an adult the spirit this holiday season has lessen in my heart.
For so many years I love this holiday season as it just felt magical...
I know now that it had a lot to do with the amount of effort my mom would put into our home with keeping the spirit alive for us as we grew up... creating new traditions as our family grew larger and blended.
Last year was the most difficult Christmas I have ever had...which dropped me into deep reflection...
In the lead up to this year I had not given it much thought other than I didn’t want to be home for Christmas and just wanted to be in the van on the road with just Tony.
Being a foreigner in the country you now call home this holiday season can takes some time to get use to.... especially without SNOW! I have lived in Australia for over a decade now however Perth has only been home for 5 years now and that does seem long...
But through reflection... I came to understand that Christmas has so many emotional feelings and attachments to my inner child.
We all have different traditions we are brought up with and what Christmas means to us specifically based on our upbringing... all our beautiful but recreating them as an ADULT... I’ve learnt isn’t easy... especially being away from the family that once made it so magical.
I am fortunate to have many beautiful friends welcome me into their homes over the years to make this holiday season special and have made so many lovely memories. But at the end of the day... nothing will ever beat the memories I had as a child.
I guess what I have learnt is it is a season for all of us to let our inner child spirit come out and play...
Most of us as adults suppress it and avoid it because we believe the magic will never be the same. But this isn’t true... after watching a few Christmas movies... they always help sparkle that magical joy of believing in something GREATER than myself 🎅🏽
If you are fortunate to have children then you get to recreate the spirit of Christmas for them with a purpose to make it magical.
However for everyone else;
For those who are single, away from families, homeless or who have lost a loved one ... the holiday season can bring up A LOT of mixed emotions ... mostly they are not of joy but of sadness or loneliness. If you are feeling these kinds of feelings... that’s okay. Make sure you allow yourself to FEEL them vs avoid or suppress them. FEELING and VALIDATING our mixed emotions is IMPORTANT for our journey to our self.
In conclusion... we are taught at a young age how to receive the spirit of Christmas and it has a lot to do with us RECEIVING as children.
As adults it becomes more about GIVING to others which our INNER CHILD does connect with as much. Because we have to give the magic vs receive and that is the struggle our inner child is feeling as an adult.
Adults we don’t see it as MAGIC anymore GIVING or RECEIVING sometimes... because we don’t allow ourselves to tap into our inner child to get excited about gifting or opening presents we just tell people no don’t buy me anything...
when really deep down our inner child is SCREAMING at us about all these things we do really want
but too much LOGIC or RATIONAL thinking comes into play that we don’t allow ourselves to express because we think about the money being spent on ourselves... we don’t let ourselves indulge
Reasons we don’t share or express our inner child:
Maybe we believe come Christmas day we will wake up disappointed our gift won’t be under the tree
Or if it is under the tree we feel like we just got it because we asked for it... but isn’t that what we do every year as children... make a Christmas list to give to SANTA... why as adults does that not apply? Is it because we know how much things cost...
Somewhere along the journey to adulthood we have forgotten how to believe in magic... to quote the SANTA CLAUSE
““seeing isn’t believing... believing is seeing” ”
We need to believe in the magic of Christmas in order for us to truly see it come to life in our homes...
• WATCH Christmas movies - allow your heart to go back into places where you felt the magic of Christmas
• Decorate your home or your office desk
• Put on your favourite Christmas albums and just play is everyday this season
• Enjoy the process of GIVING from beginning to end
• Don’t SHOP last minute... think about meaningful gifts
• Take time to wrap your gifts (don’t leave it to the last minute... make an effort)
We need to allow our inner child the chance to come out and play by actually sharing to the people close to you what you would like for Christmas... don’t be shy if people are asking what to gift you TELL THEM... it’s healthy to let your inner child ask for gifts... your deserve them if people around you want to give you magic. ALLOW THEM TO GIVE
Each of us has the spirit of Christmas living within us to make it magical...because we all have the capacity to LOVE. Love is the most magical power we all have as humans.
So this year... here are my suggestions on how to GIFT LOVE
1. Spend quality time with family & friends
• Make plans with them after the holiday season
• Spend more time on FACETIME with them vs cutting the time short
• Plan fun activities together - go see a movie or have a picnic
2. Have meaningful conversations
- actually, sit and LISTEN to what they are sharing with you don’t speak until they are finished
- ask more insightful questions about their lives
- engage and BE interested
3. Greetings & Farewells
• Every time you say hello or goodbye give that person a LONG hug and feel the connection of the embrace. Never take for granted that it may be the last time you see that person. So make your hellos and goodbyes FEEL and be MEANINGFUL.