It's that funny time between Christmas and the New Year and things feel a bit slow and unplanned. It's kind of a holiday free-for-all where lounging in pj's 'till noon and eating weird leftovers for breakfast is totally acceptable.
I admit. I have been trying to force things along to get to the next stop on our journey. Where will we go next? What's around the next corner? As far as I can tell, we are still on a road trip - Just back on Canadian soil. Living out of our suitcase, skipping around to visit friends and family all over Vancouver Island is wonderful. But... we all have our limits. I'm ready for some solitude.
It just dawned on me that there is a very good reason that I'm hanging out on a sofa in Lantzville, sipping a coffee while our car is getting poked and prodded by a pair of jolly reunited cousins in greasy coveralls. A perfect pause to write a blog post.
We had a very un-traditional Christmas season. Not surprising, eh? We stayed with some pals who harvested their own 12' tree from the woods, hauled it home and a team of 5 of us decorated it to the nines. I have opted out of chopping down trees to enjoy a brief period of holiday cheer for my entire life, opting instead for decorating mini living potted trees or the occasional artificial tree. So this was a first for me. I must say, we had a lot of fun. I'm feeling inclined to go plant a tree though...no, seriously.
Later that week, we helped gift-wrap a bunch of (someone else's) gifts for our friends to bring back to northern Alberta. Also a rare occasion for me. Also lots of fun. I slowly transitioned away from giving people "stuff" several years ago (ok..except for the mix CDs that I passed out last year). Instead, for several years, I opted to purchase "living gifts" from Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade chain of retailers. These gifts range from school supplies to seeds to milk cows and goats. They go to villages in developing countries who need a meal more than any of us need a new iPad or diamond earrings. Less stuff, more love.
It's not about how much we spend on a gift or if it was equivalent to what someone else gave or what we received. Eventually, I realized that I didn't really have to spend any money on anything for anyone. I am convinced that the people who know me well, know that they are special to me and don't need a sparkly greeting card or a trinket to know that I'm thinking of them - every month of the year.
When I asked what their favorite part of Christmas was, two little boys didn't hesitate one moment to say that it was "when grandma took us skiing and we stayed at a cool hotel with a pool!" It wasn't the Legos. Or the cool shoes. Or the skateboards. Or the gift cards. Or the money. It was the memories. They will never wear out, be out of style, need replacing, upgrading or repairs. Even kids don't "need" stuff.
On Christmas Eve, we were super grateful to be included in a family get-together with some good friends and their new wee babe, and a handful of their family members. We all collaborated to make an awesome Christmas dinner. While their family shared a fun gift exchange, I enjoyed capturing the events on our friend's lovely camera. Baby's first Christmas is pretty special. I was a bit rusty since my photography school days 10 years ago, but I found my groove and snapped away.
On Christmas Day, we met up with some cousins and took a long hike up a mountain. I was wearing a dress and leggings under my jacket and was told it would be a "little stroll". I laughed at the top after an extremely muddy, steep one-hour climb to the top, as I thought about the time wasted on styling my hair all fancy that morning (which I seldom bother doing). It was sweat-drenched and wild from the adventure. We then took a wrong trail back down the mountain and deep in the thick forest of the northwest, it gets awfully dark, awfully quickly. We eventually found our car at the base (thank goodness for smartphone flashlights...yes, they are handy!) and decided we should try to make this a yearly Christmas tradition. Good times can come from unexpected events. So...then we did the same thing on Boxing Day!!! In a different park. With more people. And a baby. And two Labradors. With extra smartphone flashlights. It was Not on purpose. But it was an equally fun and memorable adventure in the dark woods.
(Note to self: If I had tried to plan the week surrounding Christmas, those things would likely never have happened.)
Which is my lead-in to...
This time of year is great for reflecting on what memories and experiences we have been gifted with (the good, the bad and the ugly) and to learn from our mistakes aka "misreading the signs" that are always right in front of our noses.
Sometimes we try to force things to happen the way we think they should and despite repeated blatant "no's" from the universe, we keep on trying. Pushing. Forcing. Controlling.
One of my goals for 2014 is to stop trying to direct the details of life. I have been well aware of the "green lights" and the "red lights" (oooh sounds Christmasy) of life for years and yet... I still find myself feeling upset because things failed to materialize the way that I pictured them. How self-centered is that? Hmmmm.
Could you use a little loosening of the reins? Maybe a lot of loosening? Yeah. Me too. 2014 is now officially known as the Year of the Loose Reins.
Life knows what to do without us micromanaging it. It's got millions of years of experience under it's saddle!
Let's see where life takes us.
Sit back and enjoy the ride.
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