Twas The Night Before Christmas…

by Susan Cross | Posted: December 23rd, 2011 | No Comments »

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Sunday is Christmas.. My real wish for all of you is that you’re not reading this. That you will unplug and cozy down.

I am one of those people that absolutely loves the holidays. I believe in the magic, the innocence, and the purity of the season. I love the kindness and added friendliness of strangers, and it is during this season that I feel added joy.

Each Christmas Eve, after church, we light the fire places and have a wonderful dinner, followed by homemade Christmas cake. My son puts on his new Christmas pajamas and my father-in-law, John, reads ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’ by Dylan Thomas. We have celebratory champagne, because as Auntie Hannah says, “it was only once a year” (our favorite line from A Child’s Christmas In Wales). My son reads, ‘The Night Before Christmas’, the poem made famous by Clement Moore. These are our traditions. It is my hope that these become a few of my son’s happiest memories, those that last a life time and that he will want to pass on to his own family one day.

My wish this year is to keep this feeling of connectedness ongoing. Why not practice loving kindness for the remaining eleven months of the year. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice, Diwali, Bodhi Day, or any holiday of your choosing, memories are steeped in tradition and connectedness.

My wish for the days that follow are for presence vs. presents, to slow down, to unplug, to connect, to really listen, to play more, to incorporate joy, to quiet down, and to find that place of peace that lies within each of us..

So not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…. “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”