Joy To The World

I love decorating my Christmas tree.  I have an artificial tree, partly because I don’t like the idea of sacrificing a tree for something so temporary, and partly because it has been this way since I was a child.  Some things just feel like home.

I used to have strict outlines for the traditions I followed, one of them being that the tree did not go up until after December 1st.  There was no real reason for this except to adhere to rituals I had always followed without even knowing why.  This all changed five years ago, when my mom suddenly became ill.  We spent that Christmas in the ICU… and there was no tree that year.  After the loss of my mother, there was a shift in me which changed the way I viewed my life.  This new perspective came with a discerning eye for hollow outlines, and a new tradition took precedence over all others –  Never defer Joy.

My Christmas Tree 2020

So now, my tree no longer waits until December to bring beauty into our home.  It comes as early as it wants and it stays indefinitely.  This may seem like a small thing with little significance, but it was the fist step in the turning point that began my new walk with Joy.  I love to linger over the decorations as I find a place for each one in the branches, remembering the special person who gifted it to me, or the memory it holds in my life.  This is the magic of Christmas to me… the imprint of all those loved ones left upon my heart, and the beauty of each new moment that leaves impressions for tomorrow.

One of a set of porcelain doves made by my mother

A gorgeous handmade ornament gifted to me from a friend

A sweet Michael ornament gift from a friend

A little Santa ornament that plays Michael singing
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"

And of course there is Michael, always at the heart of everything exquisite in my life.  The first year this new tradition began, I thought I would include Him by playing His music randomly as I decorated.  He had a much better idea.  Shortly after I began, the audio for “E.T. Storybook” started to play.  Although I had had this recording for several years, I had never listened to it before… not even once!  How is that possible???   I like to think Michael must have somehow been saving it, and this was the perfect moment. The way Michael read that story with so much excitement and delight made my heart fly!  I felt like a child again, and I remembered the magic of being read a bedtime story on Christmas Eve, my thoughts filled with the wonder and mystery of what the morning would bring.  Ohhh… His voice!  I was swept away… and another tradition was born.

This year, as I set my tree up two months early, and listened to Michael read to me, I thought about what an enormous gift it is to understand how intimately we are meant to be living our lives.  This understanding comes to us only through our experience with Love.  I was blessed by my mother’s life, and we all are blessed by Michael’s.  Time makes no promises. Love is the ingredient that makes every moment count.  Let’s not wait another minute…

“Let us make a covenant with life  and let us celebrate with Joy a new world” ~ Michael

Love,

Siren xxx