Where is my Christmas Spirit?
December 6th, 2009
Those of you who are my friends on Twitter and Facebook will know that I’m really struggling to find my Christmas Spirit this year. I was really hoping after returning home rested and relaxed from our cruise that I would find the magic. But alas it’s not to be. I had thought maybe it was because I was having trouble with gift buying this year but I’ve conquered that and still haven’t found the magic. In all honestly I could easily just skip it this year. I’m not sure if it’s because my thoughts about simple living at are odds with the season or something else is going on. The girls have started their advent calender and I’m trying to get excited but it’s just not happening. It’s lucky I “partly” decorated when I did, cause the rest of the decoartions are staying in their boxes this year. If things don’t change soon I’m going to have a do a big evaluation of how we handle the season for next year. We aren’t religious at all but maybe we could focus on giving or helping others instead of ourselves.
Anyway, if anyone has any (non-Christian) ideas on how I can find my Christmas spirit please me know.
Hi Libby,
What about a more ‘thanksgiving’ theme ? The season could be about recognising what each family member is thankful for and then try to ‘do your bit’ for those less fortunate. Kids are great at doing things for others, perhaps they could organise Christmas collections of food/ toiletries etc to give to the Salvos or something.
Last year I had a real focus on the ‘fruits’ of Christmas – peace, love, joy etc and saw it as a real time to work out how, for example, we could cultivate peace in our home.
Another good idea might be to start some new family traditions – often silly things are most memorable.
December has really snuck up this year. I am sure that your Christmas spirit will kick in – it might just sneak up and surprise you!
Michelle
Not being in the Christmas spirit is tough, it is especially hard when everyone else seems to be in the spirit but you.
What does Christmas mean to you? What exactly about “the spirit” are you trying to catch? Maybe once you pinpoint this, you can find out just where it has been hiding
I have found since I’ve really simplified Christmas that is has helped my Christmas spirit. Admittedly, this year we have put more “into” Christmas so far with some craft activities but I’ve only done what I have felt like doing not what I feel I “have” to do. I think it’s the “have to” that really sucks the Christmas spirit from us.
I think cut yourself some slack. If you only feel like a few decorations and having a much quieter Christmas this year, go for it. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Hi Libby, how encouraging and inspiring was your entry today (December 6th). I know you may not think so, however, I beg to differ. It was honest and real.
Allow me to enlighten you on why I found this encouraging. I was doing a google search on ‘what does it mean to have christmas spirit’? And your blog entry was listed on the first page.
After reading your the entry you posted today, I could not not respond. You see, I’m not ‘religous’ either and I’ve often wondered what is it really that were meant to feel, do, say and believe during this festive time of the year?
I’ll share with you a secret. When I was a little girl, I would wait until past midnight, every year for years, creep out the the livingroom where the tree stood, turn on all the lights and sit under the tree and watch it and cry. Now that may not very funny, cute or nice. And truth be told, it’s not.
However, allow me to go on. You see during these times when I would do that I would recall why I was so emotional. In all honesty it was because I was living in a dysfunctional and abusinve home environment and Christmas was the one time of the year the family would be “nice to one another”. It was the one time my mother would shed words of comfort, encouragement or love to me consistently in a fevor of christmas spirit.
It seemed, as a child, that it was the time of the year where old debts (of various kinds: emotional, financial,e tc) were forgotten and others would go out of their way to share thier human hearts with one another. So those are my memories of Christmas pasts.
Now today, I ask myself still that magic questoin: what is this christmas spirit? What really is the meaning of christmas? To me it means sharing your heart with both those you love and those who could use it. You’ve done just that with us by the integrity of your words. I don’t believe this “christmas spirit” people search for like the “three blind mice” is always necessarily a “feeling”, but it is also action and deeds.
Christmas is about sharing our hearts with others. Thanks for sharing yours!!
For me Christmas is not about giving gifts. it’s about the whole of humanity joining together and having fun.
WOW Libby, some amazing responses today that have really got me thinking.
I think that as the holidays get crazier and crazier we naturally find our tipping point…when it’s not doing it for us anymore. That’s when it’s time to re-evaluate and change things up. Who says you always have to do the same thing. You can scale back, simplify, whatever it takes to make your heart happy. And that’s when the “spirit of Christmas” will come racing back.
I know this year I have tried to not put myself under so much pressure, to give myself some down time. Now that has meant that my Christmas cards are not all handmade this year – shock, horror – and I know people will comment about it but it has freed me up to do other things and the world will keep turning LOL. I will select some favourite decorations and make little areas of the house look nice. Will there be some still in the storage tubs? You bet and I am totally good with that.
I know your family will feel safe and loved and special no matter what you decide to do. Now isn’t that the real spirit of Christmas.
Libby, some excellent responses. I would like to echo – decide what the Christmas spirit IS for you and then build on that. And create some new family traditions.. get the girls in on that.
Some of our traditins include buying a new family game each year, giving each other World Vision Smiles type presents, going to see the lights, the beach on Christmas day.
Libby,
I tried to find mine too but it’s been lost with being so busy. I just wanted a simple homemade christmas and dissapointed I can’t give many homemade gifts. Maybe next year!!
I’m hoping to put up our tree before a christmas party we are having on the weekend for Ken’s work.
hey Libby….have you watched any of the holiday movies? or baked something fun like cookies or gingerbread? For me the best part or magical part is just listening to some Christmas music and sitting in the dark with the Christmas tree lit and a fire going…..maybe some hot cocoa??? Try it. I bet it is just a phase and you are over it already!!
Boy I can really relate. It does not feel like Christmas at all to me – and I was thinking it’s just because my mind is pre-occupied with packing and the move. But something just occurred to me. You and I both put our decorations up early! We put ours up early because they’re coming down the day after Christmas (moving day) and I wanted the kids to have a chance to really enjoy them. I sort of feel like we put them up “pre-maturely” and it almost felt fake. I think I’m stuck there and now I can’t shake that feeling that it’s not really Christmas. Maybe getting out some more decorations would actually help?
And I could not agree more that I’m sick of the over done gifts, mass consumption, present insanity. To me it’s all about being with family, sharing meals together and enjoying each others company.
Good luck to us both finding our Christmas spirit this year!