Presence & Beauty this Holiday Season

This has been an unusual Christmas so far.

Recently, I was looking at the boxed up decorations near the tree and actually thought for the first time ever

“Hmmm…maybe I won’t put these up.”

All I was able to do at that point was put the lights on the tree.

Maybe it’s because of how stressful this year was at work.

Maybe it’s because our World has changed in the past few years and in so many ways, our World’s heart is breaking.

Even if we don’t keep up with the news or even if the algorithms on our social media just show us holiday cookies and cheer, we can’t help but feel it on some level.

We are all intrinsically connected.

So if you’ve been feeling out of it, not “yourself” or that the holidays are just flying by and maybe there’s a sense that you’ve missed it all, I’m right there with you.

But it’s okay. It really is.

And as I write this, on the eve of the Eve, it’s not too late to take a good breath – several – and decide to be more present…amidst the presents!

One of the things that pulls me into presence is beauty.

I’m very visual & beauty is nourishing for me.

Recently, this came through a gift left at our door – a beautiful gold box with ivory ribbon. In it were homemade treats: snow-dusted pinecones (brownies studded with slivered almonds and dipped in chocolate, then dusted in snowy powdered sugar) and festive popcorn balls, all sitting on a paper doily.

Then, last night, a neighbor delivered a gorgeously wrapped gift adorned with red pom pom ribbon!

I was swooning over the pom poms so we didn’t open it right away.

Instead we texted our neighbor that I just needed time to enjoy the wrapping…especially the pom poms!

When I woke up this morning, right outside the front door was a spool of red pom pom ribbon with a sticky note that said “Siena.”

This kindness, this beauty is what is inspiring me to write to you today.

Beauty is disarming.
It opens the doorways to connect and to heal.

...and just as I finished writing that, right on cue, Bear the cat, all cuddled in his cat tree, meows! He knows this is true.

The beauty of an animal has always been disarming, allowing room for our truest of selves to shine – the part of us that doesn’t hesitate to be kind or compliment a stranger, the part of us that loves fully.

This holiday, I’m wishing you:
...Presence
...Presents 🙂
...Beauty