Tis the Season

I'm late this year!  Christmas is creeping upon me -- and I haven't even done my Christmas cards yet.  Where do the days go? 

And so my needles and threads have been pushed aside and I am spending this day writing cards with the goal of putting them all in the mail tomorrow.  While gifts are important to many -- I value Christmas cards.  Having lived as long as I have I know that gifts come and go but the contacts and relationships that we make with people along the way are one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves.  

Okay - I've postponed this long enough and its back to card writing.  

"Christmas isn't a season.  Its a feeling." - Edna Ferber

My Thoughts

As I stood taking pictures of the 'big' country that surrounded me last week I realized that never, ever would I be able to convey to anyone, through photography, the grandeur of the land on which I was standing.

When the deep blue sky goes from horizon to horizon and huge mountains surround me - how can that be captured in my small lens? 

My thoughts were that I am so very small, especially when standing in the middle of this enchanted open land, and my insignificance is enhanced in my mind.  That's not a bad feeling for me - it puts my everyday thoughts, worries, even joys into a perspective that becomes crystal clear in the high desert light.

At the same time I get a feeling of being a part of something so huge and unimaginable - so beautiful and wild and rugged - that to be a small cog in its existence is the greatest of blessings.  I am thankful that I can stand in my smallness and feel that I'm contributing to its history.  If I am to value a small rock found along the side of the road why wouldn't I also value my own being and try to live up to the great challenges that a lifetime brings?

This past week has only brought the wonders and gifts that our world presents us to the forefront of my mind and I am both humbled and honored.

Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.

~ Chief Seattle, 1854 ~

 

Gifts

gift, n, 1. something given; a present. 2. act of giving. 3. the power or right of giving. 4. a quality, or special ability; natural endowment; talent.

I love number '3' in this definition of 'gift'.  Having the ability to give why ever would I not try to exercise that 'right' year round and in a variety of ways? I am so very, very grateful for my life, for the fact that I am comfortable, warm, never hungry and almost always happy.  These are gifts given to me -- and I want to share them with others. 

This is probably the worst time of the year to think about gifting - giving a gift tends to become a 'have-to' instead of a 'want-to'.  For those who aren't natural 'gifters' it becomes a chore to be endured.  For those who make gifting a part of their everyday life it takes the beauty out of a simple offering.

I love the idea of 'acts of random kindness' -- giving anonymously in little ways that might surprise the receiver and give me a glow for the rest of the day.  Those quiet, non-wrapped gifts of self, time or just observation of something that needs to be done, fill me with joy.  If I think about it -- giving to others is truly a gift to myself!

"The gifts that one receives for giving are so immeasurable that it is almost an injustice to accept them" - Rod McKuen

Noel, Noel

Each day is a gift -- but some days delightfully come wrapped in bright ribbon accompanied by silver bells and song.  Because we are far from family, most of my holiday efforts must be done early on.  No last minute shopping for this little elf.  So these are the gifts that I give myself for Christmas:  Sending and receiving Christmas cards -- many times to and from people with whom we have no other communication.  Receiving their notes brings memories of past times shared.  Collecting items to go into boxes, one of which this year will find its way to Iraq and our eldest grandson. Putting money in the Salvation Army bucket to the tinkle of bells.  Going to holiday luncheons with friends - somehow the food and drink at these Yule gatherings always tastes a little bit richer and sweeter.  Enjoying the little bit of snow we have left after our storm earlier in the week.  Watching for the red cardinals who quite unaware of themselves decorate the trees outside my studio.

I leave you with this picture of a large wooden bear who lives in our neighborhood.  His owners deck him out for every season and here he is in all his Christmas finery. 

I hope this day (and every day) is one of glory and peace for each of you.

Have you seen the mistletoe, it fills the night with kisses

Have you seen the bright new star, it fills your heart with wishes

Have you seen the candlelight that shines from every window

Have you seen the moon above that lights the sky in silver.
"White is in the Winter Night" - Enya

A Cup of Tea

Do you find yourself going through rituals each time you sit down to do your art?  I've been thinking about this lately.  My goal when beading is to devote myself as completely as possible to the task at hand.  I know there are artists who can watch television, listen to a taped book or talk on their cell phone all while their hands are moving through the piece in front of them.  For the most part I cannot do that!  Whether that is a personality fault of mine or just an acquired way of doing things I don't know.  Perhaps it is my ingrained attempt to live 'in the moment' so that if the 'moment' happens to be beading then that is what I focus on.  I like to think of it another way -- beading is a gift I give myself.  I take the time given me to bead as a treasure.  This is my very own time to not only let my hands do the work, but to delve into my own depth of spirit and bring up whatever lies there.  And so I have some rituals that I go through before beading -- like a hot cup of fragrant tea, setting the scene with favorite music in the background, looking at my inspiration trays or going through beads to make sure that I have what I'll want for the work ahead.  I am preparing my mind and heart to take up needle and thread.  Yes, I'll admit that there are plenty of times when I only have a little bit of time in the day and I'll pick up my work to get as much done as that allotted time allows -- after all I can get quite a bit of background work done in a short stint of time.  But for those precious days when I get up in the morning knowing that I have hours of beading time ahead of me -- ahhh that is bliss, that requires attention to the details, that requires just the right ambience and I love it!

"Each day provides its own gifts." - American Proverb