Holiday joy

I'm thinking I've had some holidays like this snowman that looks like he's going to crash any second.  That's not what they're supposed to be about though.  So the question is how to get back to what they're supposed to be (Or were they ever what they're supposed to be?)  So what are they supposed to be?  Here's my idea - Thanksgiving is easy.  It's supposed to be about thanksgiving.  Designing the day around that concept would probably keep it from being about slaving in a hot kitchen for hours.  This year I just kept it extremely simple.  Don't tell anybody but I used mixes and short cuts and accidentally got finished with the meal before I had said we would eat.  I had a lot to be thankful for and I wish I had made a list of those things and posted it during the week.  Next year I will.

Christmas - well, the stores had their Christmas decorations up before Halloween was quite over.  So, now I'm thinking about what Christmas is supposed to be.  Why did humans start celebrating it anyway.  Of course, it's about God's sending us himself in human form to help us with our troubling imperfections.  That's something to celebrate for sure!  So - what are some ways to do that? 

Here are some more things I love to do during the lead up to Christmas.  I've collected some Christmas music that I really love.  I play it in the house every day and take some of it in the car to play.  Doing this helps me keep my mind on the joy of Christmas.  I get change at the bank and carry a little purse in my big purse so that I always have some change to put in the Salvation Army red kettles.  I get some potpourri of Christmas evergreens and put it in my car.  Putting birdseed out for the birds is fun even though the squirrels usually get it - whatever. 

I haven't tried this, but plan to this year - on December 1st I plan to begin writing Christmas letters - NOT about my family and our accomplishments to date - but about the person or family I'm writing to.  I want to tell them what I admire about them, what they've contributed to my life and thank them.  I planned to do this several years ago but never got around to it.  I especially wanted to thank the dear woman I called my spiritual mother who was and is responsible for so much of my joy in life that she taught me by her example.  Unfortunately she got sick and died before I could do the letter.  I'm going to use that event as my incentive to really do those letters this year!

Simple Ideas for Holidays

These are "extra" things, of course, but they are so easy and quick that you might find them more fun than some of the time consuming, stress producing stuff you do for holidays. 

One I really like is using gift tags for quick thank you notes.  I have some that have a dove and "peace" in blue letters.  I write notes on the other side.  I've left them with waitresses with "thank you for remembering my order."  I've left them with clerks with "Thank you for being so cheerful in what must be a stressful time!"  I try to give at least three of these per day - it can be anyone I come in contact with - the bank teller, a grandchild, a friend, etc.  It's all sorts of fun.

Another one I've enjoyed is to set aside an evening with the television, computer and phones off and all the candles I can find in the house lit.  I usually start this just a couple of hours before bed and by the time I do go to bed I am so mellow you would hardly know it's me!

Collect "consumables" for stocking gifts.  A consumable is something that will be consumed and so will not turn into clutter.  Little bottles of lotion, scented soap, tea bags, flavored coffee, small scented candles, etc.  Inexpensive and fun.

When the weather is reasonably nice, it's fun to go for a walk and scatter bird seed.  I have also been known to go for a walk with dog biscuits in my pocket and when I pass a dog in a yard, I toss a biscuit.

Holidays and Simplicity

When did the holidays turn into a source of stress instead of joy?  I'm guessing it happened when we were cutting back on staff at work so that investors and the company could make more money.  A lot of us had our work loads doubled or tripled.  Then there was equal pay for equal work (even though that hasn't quite happened for a lot of women).  So it was worthwhile financially for women to work.  The thing was, they still had their full time home care and child care jobs.  Sometimes husbands helped out - some more than others - and sometimes they didn't.  In addition, extended family may live far away.  But with jobs, home care and child care all together, the extra work of the holidays sometimes fell on only one or two people - thus the stress instead of joy.

So, what to do about that?  What has worked for me is to make a list of the things I love the most about each holiday and ask the people who celebrate with me for their favorites.  Then I do only those things.    I am judicious about what invitations I accept.  Parties are wonderful but trying to go to everything I'm invited to often doesn't work out.  Of course, lots of people start really early getting ready for holidays.  That really works when I do it because I can divide the extra work into tiny little bits that are easy to fit in to my daily life and because they are so small can be enjoyed.  Another stress buster is to stop looking at commercials and ads for ideas for gifts.  Using love as guidance for gift giving makes it easier and more fun.

Grocery Shopping

I'm not fond of grocery shopping.  Since I live alone, I can postpone for quite awhile by doing the drive thru thing.  But, of course, that's quite unhealthy and I feel bad about it.  When I had a MUCH busier life, it was even more of a problem.  Then as I was working on simplifying my life, I ran across a book that had a method I still use.  I made a list of the items I regularly buy, and then I put them in the order that they are laid out in my grocery store.  I did this task on the computer so that the list was stored in the data base. 

Each week I decided on menus, checked to see what ingredients I would need, went to the master list and highlighted the things I needed and anything else that I needed - such as paper products - printed out that list and headed for the store.  Since it was in order of the layout of the store, it took very little time to pick everything up - no back tracking.  Also, I had already done a lot of the work only once.  That simplification probably saved me an hour - maybe more - at the store.  Since the list was thorough, I rarely had to go back to the store during the week.  This method still works for me.

Less is More

I was talking to someone the other day about time management, and she assured me that she never wasted any time and got a lot done.  I guess that's the usual way people think of time management.  But a long time ago I learned that time management is really about priorities.  Careful elimination of low priority things gives me time for the things that really matter which include rest and recreation.  I think the less "stuff" I have to dust, the happier I am.  Things require care.  I'm just not into that.  I would rather listen to music, go to the movies, visit with friends and go to bed early.  Of course, I'm not everybody; so everyone has to make his/her own decisions about what's important to them.