This is my favorite holiday.  I love the pomp and circumstance of this day, the decorating, the chaos of family together, the food—I’m pretty sure I talked about that last year as well. Things have changed over the years as time tends to make happen.  Certain traditions I’ve tried to hold on to while incorporating new traditions, new family.  But at its foundation, Christmas is about faith and certainty in spite of the pagan traditions we love.  It’s about knowing that we have to follow our path as crazy as it seems.  No matter whether it makes sense to us or others, we know it’s something we have to do.  Taking that leap when it doesn’t make sense is the greatest demonstration of faith to ourselves and others.  Part of finding ourselves is learning to have faith—learning to let go of what needs releasing and following our path because it makes sense to us.  We find that faith by taking the leap and we create certainty and confidence in who we are.  We know what works for us and what doesn’t, and with faith, we learn to follow what feels right and what we know will work for us.  This includes our environment. 

It’s so important to create an environment that represents us and that feels right to us, something that supports our growth.  That includes the people we surround ourselves with.  We need to make space for those who support and encourage us and who we can reciprocate with.  The spirit of Christmas is about love, support, and family but the reminder here is that our family is what we make it. We know who we need around us or at least we know what feels right, who encourage the best in us.  The holidays can be difficult for those who don’t have a group like that or whose family isn’t behind them.  Even for those who have a supportive family, they can feel the pressure of things needing to be perfect.  Family is meant to be a system.  Above all, it’s about love and support because this time of year is a reminder to connect.  We need to know how to connect with ourselves and love ourselves and to connect with spirit for guidance and connect with loved ones for support.  It’s about finding those who can use our help and finding help if we can use it ourselves.  Believing in ourselves and our abilities makes our connection that much stronger.

This Christmas is a bit different because we aren’t all together today due to illness so it’s a little disappointing but that doesn’t change that I am so grateful for what we do get to celebrate today.  Today is a quiet day for us to celebrate our love and joy and to reconnect as our little nuclear family.  No, it isn’t the big show—we will do that in a few weeks when we are all healthy.  But I have faith that this is all for a reason.  We are meant to slow down and make this about us today.  It’s supposed to be about love and peace and finding a new way forward together.  What a gift.  There really isn’t a better gift and I appreciate that we’ve had to take some time to find different ways to express that with each other because we aren’t physically together.  The universe moves at its own pace and sometimes we have to trust that it’s all for a reason.  No, it isn’t the same, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.  It’s just a different focus this year.  Above all, the message and the meaning of today hasn’t changed.  We are still connecting and believing and learning to follow our path.  The spirit is still here no matter what it looks like.