It’s Christmas Eve. Frantic last-minute purchases are being made. Cookies are being decorated. Holiday meals are being cooked. Wine is being consumed. Children are writing notes to leave out with a plate of treats for Santa.
I am doing my best to soak up the holiday. I am striving to look beneath the surface and the busy-ness, to find where Christmas actually is. That quiet, that beauty, that wonder, that mystery. It’s there if I look for it. The kernel of holiness in the midst of the consumer craze.
Me, Christmas 2007
As an adult, it’s easy to forget about this peace and beauty. Christmas can become one big carnival of stress and obligation. We’re trying to so hard to make Christmas that we can forget to feel it and live it. It took a holiday-related breakdown of my own, but this year I’ve managed to slow down. I’m allowing myself to dwell in the wonder, even as I struggle to assemble a pentatonic kinder lyre.
Jacob, Christmas 2008
I suppose that it comes down to acknowledging that I am only one person, and I can only do so much. I’m OK with that. In the midst of the incredible hairiness that is my life right now, I’m becoming more and more OK with that all the time. I suspect that maybe this is what these busy times are here to show us. That we can’t do it all, and more to the point, we don’t have to. That we need to lay aside the obligations and marketing messages and horrible traffic, and find the part that’s Good and Right. It’s there, if we look for it.
Hannah, Christmas 2005
I am not going to keep up my regular posting schedule over the next week. I am letting go, just a little. Just enough. Hopefully, when I do, I’ll find what I was looking for. Permission to just be, instead of constantly needing to do.
If you celebrate, let me wish you a very merry Christmas. I hope that you are able to find your own moments of peace and wonder in the midst of your holiday-ing. Joy to the world – and to us!
Way to go – a well-deserved break! Enjoy. Merry Christmas!
Amanda’s last post … Wordless Wednesday
That’s a good plan, Amber. Happy Holidays!
Francesca’s last post … Simple Christmas improvising
Merry, merry Christmas, Amber, to you and to yours!
Rachael’s last post … Take Heed
Merry Christmas Amber, Jon, Hannah and Jacob.
You taking a break!? Gosh I didn’t know that was possible.
I’m actually glad to hear that you’re taking a slower pace for the next week. Enjoy the holidays!
Marilyn @ A Lot of Loves’s last post … Holiday Wishes For You and You and You
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Wendy Irene (Give Love Create Happiness)’s last post … Merry Christmas 2010!
Write when you want to write, rest (and play) when you want to rest! Merry Christmas to you and your adorable family.
Lady M’s last post … At A Certain Point- Its Lazy- Not Frugal
Merry Christmas! I love these photos!
Merry Christmas, Amber…enjoy your mini vacation from the internet.
Jessica’s last post … Christmas Eve 2010
I’ve felt more than ever before a letting go- and I keep seeing more and more saying the same. I like this. I think it feels good. Hope you had a peaceful Christmas!
Steph
Adventures In Babywearing’s last post … The turtle in the ukulele
I hope that you are, at this very moment, enjoying some of that you time you so deserve. This year, I had the same goals, to let go, enjoy and just be. It’s remarkable how wonderful it’s been. I say bravo to us that we’ve discovered this so early in parenthood. Here’s to some rest and relaxation for you, my friend.
Christine’s last post … Peaceful and wrinkle-free
Happy Hols to you and your family. I hope you are enjoying each other and some down time, too. We all deserve it, but you *really* deserve it.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy the letting go… I am working on that as well. Finally getting into the spirit of it after several months of trying.