November 23, 2021

Dear Friends,

Please enjoy this updated re-post from November 2020. May it give you a new perspective as we live the reality that All is Change. May Joy and Peace be yours this holiday season as you count all the Good that continues to flow into your life.

With clarity and humility, I acknowledge the constraints that the pandemics of the virus, fear, divisiveness, and despair have wrought. Yet, as an act of faith, hope and love, I choose to re-publish this essay about the holidays written in November 2019 for the KaleidoSoul monthly newsletter, SoulSongs.

In the spirit of serving all of Life, I invite you to hold fast to the enduring values —Divine Guidance, Lovingkindness, Compassion, Innocence, Generosity, Gratitude, Forgiveness, Creativity, Unity with all, and Hope for the future.

It would be wonderful to hear your comments about what you value and are grateful for in today’s present moment.

November 2019

In America it’s the time known as THE HOLIDAYS. Like clockwork, I find myself a reluctant passenger aboard the dreaded Holiday Rollercoaster powered by the Ghosts of Holidays Past who do their best to turn my attention away from enjoying what is happening in the Present Moment.

Among the many Neters (energies) headlining my Holiday Season are my Neters of…

• Starry-eyed Wonder
• Innocence Reborn
• The One Who Dreads the Seasonal Darkness
• The One Who Fears Scarcity of Resources
• The One Who Judges Consumerism
• The Wistful One Who Dreams her family story would resemble the happy story of the Hallmark/Lifetime Specials
• The One Who Grieves departed Loved Ones
• The Exhausted, Resentful One Who won’t ask for help
• The Joyful Great-Grandmother returning to Childhood Innocence.

PRACTICE

What Neters headline your Holiday Season? I encourage you to explore your SoulCollage® deck or add more cards.

• Which Neters inform your experience of The Holidays?
• Which Neters make The Holidays “Holy” and make you feel Whole?
• Which Neters take you away from enjoying the Here and Now?
• Which Neters support you to Be Here Now?
• Which cards of hope and faith might you create for The Holidays?

This 2019 Holiday Season finds me inching into the 71st Winter of my Life. Recently, I had a rare and delightful visit with my 2 year old Great-grandson and his parents who shared the news that Noah (born on the 100th anniversary of my dad’s birthday!) will have a new sibling in February 2020!

How swiftly the calendar pages are turning now! Suddenly I realize how silly it is to allow the Ghosts of Holidays Past to haunt me, to take me away from the Joy of Being Here Now!

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.
(A person is a person because of other people.)–Zulu Proverb

Okagesamade
(Because of you, this moment is possible.)—Japanese Zen

For as long as I can remember, the Neter of Gratitude for All My Relations is the most positive thread woven through this time of the year. That thread is what makes these days “Holy” for me. Whether it’s gathering with others at midnight in a house of worship or holding hands around a table in prayer or lighting a candle in memory of the departed or privately giving thanks to the Divine for my infinite blessings—sharing my grateful heart in community helps me become present to the Great Mystery. Healing and Wholeness of The Holidays flow into my heart.

My gift to you, dear friends, is to share a Ritual of Giving Thanks that I introduced to my family many years ago.

The Ritual of Giving Thanks is a wonderful way to help children “connect the Gratitude dots” in a way that is fun and doesn’t turn Gratitude into one more thing to nag kids about the way I did with my sons—“you may not go out for New Year’s until you show me that you have written your thank you notes,” and other heavy-handed efforts to teach them social graces.

After 25 years of observing my seven grandchildren and their friends, there is no question that children are naturally filled with wonder and joy. A child’s gratitude for life flows forth easily when they are connected with the natural world, their animals, new experiences, their friends and their loved ones. There’s no need to enforce thank you’s in these moments. The child’s pure gratitude is there for all to see!

We adults simply need to give children tools to consciously express their joyful appreciation. And most importantly of all, quit our griping and be models of gratitude ourselves. That’s where this Ritual of Giving Thanks comes in.

This year, may you find brand new ways to feel the Joy and Wholeness of The Holidays. May you see clearly the infinite blessings of your life.

May you give yourself rest, and may you consider subtracting from your endless list of chores, from your melancholy memories, and from your fantasies of perfection.

Instead, may you simply offer your beautiful Presence to the Here and Now.

Pause and listen to your heart. Ask who needs the gift of your attention, your tenderness, your quiet listening, your stillness, your perspective, your stories, your Lovingkindness.

First give that gift to yourself. And then once you are filled up, proceed to experiencing The Holidays as a brand new gift! Give the priceless gift of your presence, creating memories that lift up others and fill them with hope, love, and faith in life.

I share more thoughts about The Holidays here in my 2019 essay, Contemplating the Beauty of Receiving. Please take what’s relevant to you at this time and leave the irrelevant rest!

May Peace be with you through the holidays and throughout 2021, dear friends.

Love,