Three Ways to Brighten this Holiday Season

It’s been a tough year and we can create more light this holiday season.

Via Public Domain Pictures

Some have dubbed the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky as the “Christmas star” this holiday season. During this year, we have sought meaning from celestial events just as the ancients did. We want the heavens to provide answers for us today. As we seek answers from the heavens, we can also seek answers within to brighten this holiday season. We just need to be more creative this year. 

1. Use Technology to Gather

Luckily, we have better technology than what Skype used to be at the height of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? popularity. The options include Zoom, FaceTime, Google Duo, Skype, and so many others. Each option has strengths and weaknesses. Personally, my family and I use Zoom to gather virtually each Sunday.

Video chat software has been such a blessing during this time, so we can still gather in some form. I especially love being able to see and hear my siblings, nieces, and nephews who live thousands of miles away. I can also safely gather with my parents who live locally when any of us feel ill.

The distance can feel smaller as we engage the two senses of sight and hearing to gather. At Thanksgiving, my high school girlfriends and I chatted like it was yesterday. We visually and aurally shared laughs and tears over our triumphs and struggles.

So this holiday season, use video chat for the first or the hundredth time to gather virtually. Try out the different options.

How have you gathered using technology? 

2. Go Old School: Use Snail Mail

A handwritten note feels special and it stands out from all the junk mail. We eagerly anticipate its content as we can peruse it over and over. This is also a physical object that we can keep for years to come. Besides, other communications disappear into the cloud. 

Before my grandma died in September, I sent her letters because she couldn’t answer her telephone anymore. I don’t know if she read my letters, but I know I tried. Since my grandma had sent me cards and letters for almost four decades, she deserved a few notes near the end of her life. Thankfully, I still have some of my letters from my grandma and other friends and relatives.

So write and send a letter. It may be late in the season for mail to arrive on time, but it will still mean much to the recipient.

Do you enjoy sending or receiving physical letters?

3. Give of Your Time and Talents

Many of us are under financial strain during this time so we can’t afford the usual store-bought gifts. But we generally have time or talents that we can share at little or no cost. For example, my mother-in-law recorded herself reading children’s books so she could share literature with her grandchildren. She borrowed library books for free and used her phone that she already pays for to create a video. Without spending much, my sons enjoyed seeing and hearing Grandma and Grandpa tell funny stories.

With household members, we can spend physical time together playing board games, putting together puzzles, or cooking together. And if we are particularly tired, we can watch a movie.

To give time to those farther away, we can call or instant message them. Some have found creative ways to still spend time together long distance. For example, my nieces and nephews play board games through video chat with friends. Each player sets up their own board and moves their pieces and their opponents’ pieces throughout gameplay.

During this time, many have found ways to virtually share their talents. Several of my musical friends post their videos playing music or singing on social media. In my amateur singing voice, I recorded myself singing Edelweiss in German to share with my dad who served in Germany for two years.

How will you spend time together (or apart) this season? Have you shared any talents as presents before?

Shine Light in the Darkness

As celestial lights guide us during the night, we need each other’s light to guide one another through the proverbial night this year. We can try these three ideas and many others. Really, the stars are the limit.

Christmas Blahs: My Tired Brain Is Racing a Mile a Minute

 An incident reminded me of a hurtful time that sent my thoughts racing.

Tired Me

Christmastime can be a difficult time for me as my body is overproducing melatonin. I feel tired yet I have difficulty sleeping. Last Christmas I felt suicidal two days before my GRE exam. I spiraled when babysitting plans fell through last minute and my husband hesitated on canceling his plans to watch the children. Then I took the GRE and had a bout of diarrhea midway through the exam. I thought it was really bad gas, but no, I discovered it was diarrhea the hard way. Oh, that was an uncomfortable two hours finishing the exam.

This Christmas season feels easier than last year because I am not applying to graduate school. Luckily, I didn’t get accepted for Fall 2020 because I would have really hated attending college during this pandemic.

Naturally, I had to tell you about last year’s Christmastime because my mind has been running forward and backward in time. Now I can get to the matter at hand.

Yesterday, I talked with someone who mentioned knowing someone that had hurt me several years ago. This old someone had refused to communicate with me when we had several commitments to fulfill together. It snowballed. I wrote through my feelings several years ago in my journal, so I thought my feelings had been resolved. I explored my emotions last night to understand why what happened still bothered me. I realize I wanted a connection with this other person, but it became impossible when she refused to communicate with me. Our communications have remained shallow ever since. And that is how it will stay because of her choice.

One incident involved shaming a child over what I viewed as inconsequential. My mind spun on this incident because I have had people shame my children and other children for something all children do (and many adults do in private — like picking plaque off teeth). This action is viewed as “gross” and unclean. In our current climate of this pandemic, some may view this action as possibly “killing” someone because a person may spread germs. (Hey, I thought germs just do what germs are genetically coded to do: multiply and spread in human hosts.) Yet children doing this “dirty” deed attend school daily and don’t spread Covid-19 nearly as much as adults do.

So, my mind thought of all the ways we shame each other over normal bodily functions. Many examples flitted through my mind while I lay in bed for hours. Eventually, I fell asleep and woke too soon. I tried resting twice through today, but my mind keeps racing.

I read through old journal entries to understand myself better so I can improve. I recognized that I had a lot of pain because of some adults and some children shaming me for years. I don’t want other children to feel that same shame I felt. That’s why I approached this person years ago about her shaming methods. However, she passed it off as a difference of opinion. Sure, we can have a difference of opinion, but the true problem is forcing that opinion on other children and other adults. It is fine to teach children sanitary habits, but it isn’t fine to guilt-trip them to stop an action.

Tomorrow I have a counseling appointment so maybe I can talk through some of these negative feelings instead of writing about them to you dear reader. But I am sure you needed this information in your life. It is unbelievably valuable information to know:

Don’t try to figure out mutual acquaintances with others. That’s what Facebook stalking is for.

So, reader, have you ever regretted discovering a mutual acquaintance? Do your thoughts race often? Finally, how is your Christmas season going?