If I could just express a thought or two...nothing clearly original, but a couple of things on my mind.

Holidays...
Past, "presents", and future. Beautiful things are just things. Most of us love beautiful things.
But I think the gifts we hunger for cannot be found tied with a bow.
Connection and caring...they make the future worth living. I have found some of that here.
I asked for guidance.
I look for grace.

I ask for unconditional love. A tough ticket.
I also know it's the gift I must give myself.
It can't be found on any one particular day..or in any one person.

"Oh would that Christmas lasted the whole year through, as it ought," Charles Dickens wrote. "Would that the spirit of Christmas could live within our hearts every day of the year."


Why? Why celebrate a holiday?
A friend asked me..."I don't get it. What's the point?"

I told him.....it is the smell of snow..it's love, it's peace, it is sharing and embrace....it's about the wonder of a child... and "gifts." I could have gone on to further define "the holiday."

Most of us observe a holiday this time of year.
We run around..hustle, bustle...some of us love it and others don't. For some it is a lonely time..it can be stressful. It may be a sad time for mourning.

And it can be imposing.

Why put it on the calendar..the holiday spirit doesn't hover over our heads just because the calendar says it's time.
I've thought long and hard about this..
A holiday...
It is a day to unify..to set aside for reflection..a day to honor our family and friends. A day to acknowledge and embrace our inner gifts.

A day to realize we must receive graciously and be thankful.

My life is my gift..what I do with it is my gift in return. Christmas day is my day to remember this.
It is a reminder that we must make time....time to discover our Star as well as offer our own inner gifts to others. You all have given me yours and I would hope that you have received mine to you.
Thank you.

Behind the toys....the tinsel...the craziness, we honor our "oneness" this time of year.
Oneness..clarity, and peace...this is what I wish..
And if the time happens to be later that they arrive, they will still be cherished. More so...a holiday.

I wish all these things I hope for..for you as well.
I love you all.
And during my holiday, when I silently reflect on Christmas day, I'll know that none of us are really alone but very much together in spirit.

Have a merry, merry holiday. <3

~gourmet~

well written.
i enjoy the Christmas holiday because of the excitement of my children, and the family being together once again.

and this year, i found out, by grilling my kid, that my husband, that often times surly man that i married, thinks that the things i put on my wish list are the things i am going to get, price be damned. and although they are material things, it makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking that he thinks enough of me to fulfill my wishes.....

i have tried the "love me just the way i am" as one of the things i want from him, but the way he sees it, because he does love me, he wants me to be the best i can be, and that means pushing for changes in some areas.....oh well, like you said, unconditional love for me has to be a present to myself. or from mom. but since she is no longer among the living, it will have to be me.

thank you for your thoughts on the matter. they are lovely. and merry Christmas. may your heart be light, and your holidays joyous.