Although today's post is a 3 Keys Thursday post, it's not about organizing. As much as I love organizing and tout its value as a life skill, there is -- and you may want to sit down for this -- more to life than organizing.
This year, the holidays will be quite different for most of us, but they are still worth celebrating. Here are three things I plan to remember this year.
How lucky I am. I know it sounds incredibly Pollyanna-ish, especially in a year like this one, but there's never been a better time to focus on gratitudes. I miss my mom more than ever at Christmas, and I can curl up in a ball and let that overtake me or I can focus on what -- and who -- I have. My daughter who, under normal circumstances, might be miles away in a place of her own. My husband, who does so many little things -- like going to the grocery store for the one item I always seem to need when I bake. My dad, who's just around the corner, instead of more than a hundred miles away in my home state. My friends, who I see mostly on social media for now, but with whom I look forward to celebrating...soon (I hope). There may be things we don't have, but why let those take us away from what we do have?
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| wixin_56 via Pixabay |
Not all Christmases will be like this one. We've been so isolated for so long that it seems as though normalcy may never return -- and it may not return in the way with which we're most familiar. But not every Christmas will be a lockdown Christmas. This year, we need to focus on the traditions that matter, and perhaps treat ourselves to some new ones, too. I splurged on some special hot chocolate which we may consume after our live-streamed Mass tonight and maybe instead of champagne on New Year's Eve as well -- or maybe with a family movie between Christmas and the new year. And, as someone who'd rather write than bake, I'm not entirely sorry to not have to bake as many cookies this year. Maybe this is the year to move from "we never do that" to "why not try it?"
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| JillWellington via Pixabay |
Why we celebrate in the first place. Even the Grinch figured this one out:
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth of a child who changed the world. Even if Christmas doesn't mean that to you, it's hard to deny that it's about life and rebirth and if it can come "without packages, boxes or bags," well then, it can come during a pandemic, too.
This Christmas will be different -- that much is true. And, while some of us are in undeniably terrible circumstances, where finding even a spark of gratitude is challenging, many of us are mourning a loss that is much more like the packages, tags, ribbons and bags.
We are here. Christmas is here. Let's celebrate.
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