MOST ASK, “WHY CAN’T IT BE LIKE CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY ?”
MOST DO LITTLE FOLLOWING DECEMBER 25 TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
ARE YOU MOST?
NEVER-ENDING-ALL-SEASONAL GREETINGS
Today
Tomorrow
Ho Ho Ho TO TO TO Ho Ho HELL
HALF OF THE WORLD AWAY
This is the story of a young girl called Lily. Looking at the moon through her family telescope one night, she is amazed at what she finds, a man on the moon. Lily watches on as our man goes about his chores, all alone up there. She becomes determined to get something to the moon, to send him a message and show him that someone down here is thinking of him.
(The music is ‘Half the World Away’ performed by Aurora, the original song was by Oasis.)
Sometimes being half of the world away is a lot closer than we allow ourselves to believe; especially if we look at it through THE LENSES of a Child. . .
Go ahead. . .BLINK. . .
Gently rub your eyes and take another look,
a long gawking and
SEE
SEEING
Christmas in July
isn’t as half of the world away as it seems and that mostly:
K I N D N E S S
IS
ALWAYS
IN SEASON
So. . .on this Monday, July 22:
WINTERINGS
 |
[UNTITLED] Yasuhara Teishitsu Translated from the Japanese by R. H Blyth Ice and water, Their difference resolved, Are friends again. (My thanks to Yasuhara Teishitsu and the translator.
Unfortunately I can't remember the source of the poem.)
In Northeast Ohio we can often have four seasons in one day
and worse, we can experience all four seasons inside us, too. . .
It's up to each of us to bring Sun Shine to each day
. . .but will we. . . ?
Now that would be a great (never-ending Season)
WINTERINGS
We need no crumpled calendar pages to announce the comings and goings of the Seasons No synchronized Apps through an un-weathered Cloud to Announce our Events Our seemingly important moments or lacksadaisical 'To-Do's' No. . .it all settles down wobblingly to our eventual Winterings with one guaranteed Promise: 'There is no Winter that's never not been Obliterated by the Spring' . . .Especially when it feels like our Final One
Brrrrrrr is Never in Season
A small Unitarian Universalist church choir in Black Mountain, North Carolina (The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley) began making videos for their online services as a response to the Covid pandemic in April of 2020. Their choir director, Annelinde Metzner, used her experience as a compose and arranger to make videos using Garage Band and I-Movies, with rehearsals and recordings on Zoom. “We Are Lights” (The Chanukah Song) is a song for Chanukah that their choir performed in December 2021, with lyrics by Steve Young, music by Stephen Schwartz, and a 2006 arrangement by Mac Huff. They have added their own photographs symbolizing “Light” which give the words poignancy. . .and inspired the rest of this blog post celebrating Chanukah with Christmas just 13 days away. . .
It is THE Season of Lights. . .
Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
L I G H T
is always in Season.
I love stories,
especially ones that start out:
THE STORY IS TOLD. . .
that there were six people trapped by pure Chance in the darkest of darks and the coldest of colds– but not without a
G R E A T S O L U T I O N
Each person, all six of them, had a stick of wood. . .
SO THE STORY IS TOLD. . .
Their dying fire needed just one thing as they huddled around it:
L O G S !
One woman who had a stick wasn’t about to give hers up. As she shivered and huddled around that dying fire, that dimming light, she was able to see the faces huddled/shivering being illuminated and because one of those faces was black, there’s no way she was going to give up her stick to warm THAT face up.
There was another sitting around that dying fire and saw the face of the one who’s mouth talked about a God he didn’t quite believe, there’s no way he was going to give up his stick to warm THAT face who’s mouth talked of a different belief.
The third one sat there around that dying fire in tattered clothes and pulled the well worn coat closer and more secure around him as he muttered under his breath, “There ain’t no way I’m giving my stick to this fire to warm these highfalutin rich folks.”
There was a rich man who just sat and thought of the wealth he had in store, and how to keep what he had earned from all of these lazy, shiftless poor; he would not be giving up the stick he had rightly earned.
The black man’s face was frowned all up in revenge as he held on to his stick even while the fire was flickering its very last flame; no way he was giving up that stick to people who had oppressed and kept he and his ancestors down. It was the spite that made him hold that stick almost as a weapon; serves these white folks right to die of cold.
The last man in this group, shivering harder now in the barely glowing embers, firmly believed you give ONLY IF FIRST GIVEN TO, so his cold hands held his even colder stick and would stay that way since no one else was going to offer up their sticks.
THE STORY IS TOLD. . .
S I X L O G S . . .
Six Logs held by six different
UN-SHARING
people who died. . .
w h o
WOULD RATHER DIE
than to
S H A R E. . .
The Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of the Season
is that they died not from the
Cold and the Dark
but something the much,
much worse:
The Cold and The Dark
I N S I D E
It is the Season of Lights. . .
Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
L I G H T
is always in Season
A single little ember can Light a miracle. . .
There are many
CANDLE BLOWERS
OUT AND IN
T H E R E
Keep an inner Candle lit
so that the Miracle in your life
can find its way home again and not only
E N L I G T E N. . .
b u t
W A R M O T H E R S
along the way. . .
Eliminate
B R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
from ever having a Season. . .
A n y
L I G H T
that Shines
not only illuminates a path
. . .It Warms a Heart
BE A SEASON OF LIGHT
(if not always–o f t e n)
(BETTER STILL: ONE THAT NEVER ENDS!)
BE AN EVERLASTING
LIFESTYLE OF
L I G H T
NEVER TOO EARLY
W E L L. . . ?
Is it still too early to celebrate Christmas?
(only 40 days away)
Yeah, it’s time for that debate again S O. . .
what say you?
Naomi Ludlow from USA TODAY took a real good look at this and had some interesting facts and fictions. I was actually in COSTCO over the Labor Day weekend and BAM there was just a small aisle of Christmas trees and lights. Now that Halloween marked the end of spooky season and is a full two weeks behind us, there’s a constant debate on when we should start celebrating Christmas. In recent years, we’ve seen the festive period creep in as early as Nov. 1. Sirius/XM Radio already has there stations blaring the Christmas tunes and families put up decorations and some get a head start on buying presents because there are BLACK FRIDAY sales before Black Friday now.
And so the now-annual debate has begun: When is the “proper” time to start decking the halls, decorating the Christmas tree and belting out those merry songs?
Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
I never take mine down, we just decorate it for the different seasons/holiday’s as they come and go
Social media starts popping with personal opinions, with some demanding all Christmas cheer cease and desist until Thanksgiving has been observed, while other Santa Claus celebrants proclaim Dec. 1 as the official start of the season.
And then of course there are the uber-eager fans, including the self-proclaimed “Queen of Christmas,” Mariah Carey, who say Nov. 1 is the right time to kick off the holiday season.
Yet even as the start of the holiday remains up for debate, there’s more than just personal traditions and preferences on the line. Regardless of where you may fall on this seasonal battle, there are some very real reasons why some people decide to start the celebrations long before what others may believe appropriate.
Christmas lights before Thanksgiving:There’s a reason behind the ‘act of kindness,’ experts say
Holiday traditions bring comfort to some,
but sadness to others
The past two years have been a time of isolation and new norms that sent many into a frenzy. The same goes for how we’ve celebrated the holidays. Families adjusted by having virtual gatherings, but for many, the joy of the season remained.
For most people, the holidays are a time to step away from normal routines, reconnect with family and close friends, and destress.
“We’re kind of stuck in the day-to-day and putting out fires in our lives, but taking the time to prioritize some celebrations with friends and family really creates positive feelings and helps us enjoy life,” said clinical psychologist Ryan Howes.
Thus a reason for some to want to capitalize on as many holiday events as possible – to give people hope of the better times that are ahead.
“For many people, the holidays are associated with positive emotional arousal,” psychotherapist Owen O’Kane told USA TODAY. The Sunday Times bestselling author continued, “And that could be linked to the fact that many people associate the holiday period with warmth, family, nostalgia and connection.”
Leading up to the holiday season, people look forward to their established family traditions and often set expectations linked to their fond childhood memories. A scientific study showed that when humans set expectations for pleasure, we produce dopamine, which is a chemical messenger that tells the brain how happy we feel.
On the other hand, some people don’t see the holidays as a fond memory. This time can cause stress and be difficult to get through. These people will produce chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline, according to O’Kane.
Oftentimes, those who dread the holiday season are trying to overcome hardships, whether it’s dealing with issues such as grief, family disputes, and drug and/or alcohol abuse.
We may crave those Christmas memories
As humans, we recall memories through our five senses, with smell being the most prominent.
When we smell freshly baked cookies, it can take us to a time we spent making cookies with Grandma. Seeing twinkly lights helps us remember the time Dad almost fell off the ladder while trying to decorate the house. Touching an old ornament brings back the memory of making it with siblings. This is called sensory activation and is a leading reason why the holidays are highly anticipated.
Retailers play a big part in activating our senses. They understand how our minds work and want us to participate in the process.
“The next time you go to the department store and you look at the amount of effort into how displays are laid out, how lighting is done, how colors are used, how music is used in the background, all of it is used very cleverly to stimulate us,” O’Kane told USA TODAY.
The layout forces the consumer to feel the holiday vibe and urges them to buy gifts. This is just one of the tactics besides holiday deals to get people involved.
Colors also impact how we participate in the season.
“Red stimulates and energizes – even our spending. Waitresses wearing red receive 14 to 26% higher tips than waitresses wearing any other color uniform,” according to a Psychology Today article. “Green is an optimistic color associated with luck and wealth. It’s also been shown to have a positive effect on creativity. A possible explanation for some of the more unusual gifts found under the tree.”
So why not start celebrating now?
Dread, overstimulation and even disappointment keep people from wanting to participate in the holiday season.
A study on the Christmas blues shows that the holidays may increase stress before they start and could increase uneasy feelings afterward. There are a number of reasons this can happen, including finances, grief, loneliness, estrangement, or divorce or pleasing.
All of the expectations we set in the beginning of the season are far more exciting than the actual holiday, Howes told USA TODAY. But sometimes we are faced with disappointment if things didn’t go as planned.
O’Kane suggested we create a balance so we aren’t overwhelmed as the season approaches and aren’t disappointed at the end.
SO WHICH ARE YOU ?
If you follow me at all over social media, you know I’m a big-never-stop-never-let-go-of-celebrating-Christmas. Some would say, I’m a walking/talking/living
Christmas Card
But
with a purpose and a strong reason and a powerful meaning:
TO TAKE THE FEELING
TO HAVE THE KINDNESS
TO ALLOW THE SPECIALNESS OF THIS SEASON
to be a part of our
e v e r y d a y s
(which is why I post a Christmas picture the 25th of each month so that we literally can
PRACTICE MERRY CHRISTMAS
So let the stories be read
let the stories be told
and most of all,
LET THEM BE WRITTEN AND RE-WRITTEN
in each of us as we celebrate in our own ways
and hopefully be the reason and a part of another’s
celebration
AND THEN THERE’S THIS:
Maybe the greatest gift you may be able to give during these upcoming days
is the greatest gift Another can receive:
T O L E R A N C E
S U M M E R I N G
I am not the only one who
THINKS
or most certainly
F E E L S
I T. . .
But I keep looking for the rest of Summer
as soon as the last sparkler loses its sparkle
on the 4th of July
which got me to thinking about things
a little beyond Summer
and this one Summer of 2023
being the last one any of us will
ever live. . .
h e n c e:
100 Summers
100 Summers from now
I’ll be gone
and so will everyone
I know and love
(and you too, dear reader)
My name won’t be
remembered or spoken
The Okay-ness
of this is that after
100 Summers gone
is there’ll be as many
Falls, Winters and Springs
taking their places as
100 Seasons before
without much explanation
(recently written for a 15 poems in 10 day challenge for local gems)
Uhhhhhhhhh
days gone by
are never really days
g o n e. . . .
A RESURRECTION MANIFESTO
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
by Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
DEATH AWAKENINGS
I went to sleep
and never woke up
A-lay-me-down-to-sleep-can’t-stay-
awake-anymoreness-kind-of-sleep
To a not all-that-well-to-known-
kind-of-Hereness
And it wasn’t an Okaynessability
or an Alrightynessity
but an Is-ie-ness
A never-not-to-be be-unknowability
that makes any new day
A Death Awakening
An Infinity
not a new Reality
sleeplessly Forevernity
DO MORE THAN LOOK. . .
SEE
NOTICE
RECOGNIZE
R E S U R R E C T
FALLINGS
James Crews is a poet who teaches Poetry at the University at Albany and lives on a organic farm with his husband in Shaftsbury, Vermont. Each Friday he posts a poem, sometimes one of his own that serves as more than just some mere Poetry Prompt. He recently posted this: I’ve been sitting with this very short but very powerful poem by Jane Hirshfield ever since a dear friend passed it along to me earlier in the week. It speaks to the season so many of us might find ourselves inhabiting, not only that of autumn, but a moment of loss and transition during which we’re asked to accept such changes as necessary, and perhaps even sacred. In this poem, she invites us to see each shedding tree as an icon, “thinned/back to bare wood,/without diminishment.” And there is almost a haiku-like quality to those final three lines that urges us toward deeper contemplation of the richness inherent in these wooden beings. Perhaps what we see as loss and a kind of death each year as fall comes is really just wind and weather having worshipped the trees so much they are returned to their basic essence. In this way, we might reframe any difficult season when we are worn back to our essential selves as holy, worthy of worship for the way such trying times allow us to become something new.
Autumn
by Jane Hirshfield
Again the wind
flakes gold-leaf from the trees
and the painting darkens—
as if a thousand penitents
kissed an icon
till it thinned
back to bare wood,
without diminishment.Invitation for Writing & Reflection: How might you reframe a difficult season in your own life as sacred or holy, seeing how you were worn back to the truest version of yourself even while in pain?
It prompted me to write in kind:
FALLING
And just like that
Summer fell
into a colorfully crisp confetti
of blazenous colors
that never reached the ground
Flutterings
into what can’t always be planted
but never fails to be garnered in
whatsoeversthat find us all
softly soaringly sheltered
in a cooling uplifting Breath
A heavenly satisfied Sigh
May this Fall Season bring you lots of
Oooooh and A W E
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH–YOUR POEM
I accepted two challenges recently
FOR PURELY SELFISH REASONS
ONE: Write Fifteen Poems in 9 days
TWO: Write 30 poems in 30 days. . .
W H Y
for me
it’s a form of meditation
of connecting
Me to ME
both reading and writing
p o e m s
so for these remaining four Friday’s
I’ll POEM You
Scary
waking up in a Robert Frost poem
that promises miles to go
while I’m trying to walk out of an inner forest
that’s dark and deep
robbing me of more sleep than a
Bank robber with a combination to the vault
on a deserted Sunday night
Feeling out of Season
Season’d
in a Season is unseasonally strange
gyping you
unless you love the surprise of
unopened gifts on Christmas’s in July
All ways inspiring an
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
begging for a welcomed
not-always-in-season’d
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
SCALED UP
C H R I S T M A S
is still
8 1
Days away
but this is not about
CHRISTMAS
or how many days away
we are to celebrating
so much as
HOW A FEW SIMPLE PAUSES
can make all of the difference
to a message
and even more
to a busy
L I F E
PART OF BEING CHRISTMAS OUT OF SEASON IS
Being the Song
in Some One’s Life
that’s never been a part of their
r e p a r t e e. . .
JOY TO THE WORLD