photo by Lauren Markham and Felicia Chernesky
The holidays are known for tidings of great joy—and excess.
Everything we do starts off as an idea wrapped in good intentions that more often than not ends up crammed into an overcrowded closet…
So what is it that we’re after—the diamantine star or the dazzling bauble?
Asking this question is another way of reminding myself to simplify, simplify, simplify.
Mark Twain is credited with writing to a friend: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
When we hurry we tend to overdo, so instead of rushing, it seems wiser to take our time to buy-bake-run-write less, and make what we produce matter more.
Of course, with the frantic pace a pre-holiday week takes, this advice is more easily given than lived.
But every year ends with a new beginning—a chance to revise our expectations, renew our commitments to our dreams, and rewrite our futures.
And what could be more blessedly winter wonderful than that?
I couldn’t agree with you more! And thanks for the reminder – we all need it from time to time. I would love to clean out some of those crammed closets – real and metaphorical – sometime soon. Simple is good.
Jeanne
AMEN!! I’ll keep it simple.
Yes it is! Just like good friends are simply wonderful.
All beautifully said
Nothing could be more timely or true. Every year I promise that I will do more with less and it never happens. I buy more and more junk and feel bad afterward – it’s like cheating on a diet! One thing I have done is take more time to enjoy the simple moments. I am stretching the most out of them, from my kids singing the 12 days of Christmas (over and over) to sitting in front of the tree with a cup of tea after the kids have gone to bed. Pretty soon the tree will be down and the kids will be grown up and it is the simplest of moments that I will remember.
I love this, Felicia. Definitely a message I think all of us can use this time of year! That mug still cracks me up, and reminds me, I think I should go make some hot cocoa now.