Surviving the Disruption, Disconnection and Chaos
December 1, 2024
We were so excited for our Christmas celebration this year. We lit up our Yule log, decorated the house and enjoyed the celebration of Winter Solstice preceding Christmas. Yes, I celebrate both! And I do not believe I am an enigma. I have authored several poems about this season that is full of light and grace. I love all the magic, mystery, love and light that it brings, no matter how the bow is tied on the package.
The shopping was all done, we decorated the house in ornaments, lights, festive Father Christmases and shiny reindeer. The Saturday before the day of celebration I ventured out in the cold to meet with dear friends who live about an hour north of me and share a sweet time with them. It was a delight.
The next day, I attended a wonderful Advent/Solstice poetry celebration which Bee Smith, poet and educator, authored and hosted from Ireland. It was our final session and we all chatted and shared and said our Happy Holidays and goodbyes for now. It was thoroughly delightful and I thank her for all four of these great sessions.
As I shut down my computer and got ready to do some present wrapping, I started to feel achy and very cold. A few hours later, a Covid test revealed my fate for the next few days. I was Covid positive. The grandkids and daughter also tested positive! It was a family affair!
My younger daughter and her family of 5 were coming from Baltimore, my son’s fiancé coming in from the Mishawaka, Indiana area, and we had many friends to drop off small tokens of love and connection, none of which would happen now. Four of the five of us were locked in! Those four of us felt physically miserable within hours.
The fifth (my husband) has escaped the misery as of this writing. He has been the masked emissary from us to the world, delivering the presents, going to the store and propping up what was left of our holiday. Kudos to him coupled with much appreciation!
Our Christmas traditions took place in shifts throughout the day. The kids here were upset they could not see their cousins so there were many video calls, sharing of treasures received and lots of giggling over the wires! For Christmas we ate leftovers as our big meal was planned for the 26th when the cousins would have arrived.
We opened our presents without the usual completely insane flying of paper and empty boxes, which was kind of sad. I never thought I would miss that bit of holiday magic and mischief, but I did.
The kids here had a couple of meltdowns, minor ones and typical of a Christmas Day with too much sugar and not enough sleep. One awoke at 4am. She held it together until the rest of us woke up though, and we appreciated that. It was kind of a crazy stay- at-home Christmas Vacation film (“Hallelujah, Holy ____! Where’s the Tylenol?” Courtesy of Clark W. Griswold, Jr!)!
What we all took away from the chaos, nose blowing, and overall physical misery was that it was not just “enough,” it was indeed, a very good Christmas! We made the very best of what we had to work with and while not perfect, it was still the magical, wonderful day of love and connection that we had hoped for.
As the New Year approaches and we look forward to what awaits us in 2025 with a combination of trepidation, challenge and joy, I invite you to think about making your resolutions for the coming year in the form of affirmations. Frame how you want your year to look and feel in a positive way, not what you are fixing, rather what you want to grow for and within yourself. Research shows that our brain neurotransmitters respond much more effectively to change when information is presented in a positive manner. Affirmations help us accept possibilities before they occur.
Think of planting the seed of your goals for the year in the fertile soil of your thoughts, your inner beliefs and who you truly are. Grow the best of yourself in 2025! We need to be authentic, to use ourselves and our contributions to the world in the way we want to see it become, not through a lens of the things that erode and wash away the good in us.
Affirmations should be realistic and achievable. They are stated in the present tense. Couple your statement with genuine emotion and belief. In other words, feel that you can attain the goal stated in the affirmation. Start an affirmation with a statement such as “I am, I work, I have, I create, I help.” Write it down and post it where you see it. Say it aloud, repeating it multiple times daily. Affirmations are simple and powerful! Contact me at the email below if you need help in framing your affirmation.
We can be what is needed to make positive change within ourselves, and with each little gift we give, each kind word we share, each step we take to reach out and support another in need, and when we are an ally. So let’s dig in and do it!
Happy New Year,
Here’s to your well-being, now and always,
Sandra (Sandy) Place
