Weather has been particularly beautiful this weekend, quite balmy in southwest Florida. I’m not complaining one bit. The trees are playing their own tune, shimmying and shuffling this way and that way. Each time I rest on the chaise lounge on our patio and close my eyes, the rustling leaves fill my ears with a soothing white noise that isn’t all that different than lying on a beach in Daytona and absorbing the delicate play of the waves rippling against the shore.
Mmm. It is so peaceful, tremendously relaxing and far from chaotic.
Probably best to not even glance at my At-A-Glance planner. The setting there is far less serene. For after all, this is it. The weekend. The weekend to do it. This is the time to take down all of the tubs of Christmas decorations, artificial tree parts and ornaments and village houses and village people (no construction worker among the bunch but plenty of policemen, interestingly enough). And do something with them!
Well, that is if we’re going to do anything at all. Decorate for the holidays, I mean.
Hubs and I were chatting about our decision to forego the tree last year. I thought it had been two years ago, the Christmas after we lost our dog. I know we weren’t feeling the holidays all that much but he reminded me that in fact we were recruited to host the family Christmas that year even though our hearts were still a little sorrowful that December. We held off putting any of our dachshund collection of ornaments on the tree. That helped a little. But last year, we had no guests expected to come our way so we did something unbelievably radical — gasp — we didn’t put up a tree. The first time in the 20 years (up to that point) we had been together. And amazingly so, Earth continued rotating on its axis. I did miss some of the unique things you’ll find on our tree.
That brings us to this year. We are not hosting this year either though we could possibly have some family or friends stop by. But the real question is how much do we do? At this point, it is only a little over 3 weeks to Christmas. We might be able to wait for 4 or even 5 weeks before taking it all down again since we usually leave everything up through New Year’s.
It is so easy to just pull everything down and out of obligation, put it all on display. But since I turned 40 a while ago, I’ve gotten away from my old ‘have to’ ways. I’m becoming a big believer in do it because you WANT TO and for no one else. ‘Just because’ isn’t a good enough reason to go through the motions. I have only so much energy and I want to invest it where it makes the most sense.
So as I gaze out this morning on the second and final day of this weekend, still no Christmas decorations in sight within our home, I look to the trees swaying to and fro. They are moving in the direction that makes sense in the moment. If the winds pull them this way, they sway this way. But if the winds travel the other way, they don’t fight it and go the other way because that’s what they always do. They hop on the breeze and let it take them in the direction that will help them float and glide and savor the day.
Hmm. I wonder which way the breeze will take us today and this holiday season. I’m not going to fight the breezes no matter what they compel me to do. Time is so precious and elusive, and we should find joy in as many grains of it as we can.
I’m going to be seeking out that joy today…in whatever we do. I hope you do the same. ~ Chris xo
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