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Powerful Placement • Powerful Presence

Gearing up for holiday bliss and the year’s end

Soon, we will become inundated with catalogues encouraging us to make choices for holiday-themed giving, eating and living.  The pictures will encapsulate perfect place settings, families around a fireplace with green things and sparkles; everyone will be smiling and the sense of abundance will be clear. There is a lot of encouragement to “get the house ready for company”, plan outfits for the holiday- themed cocktail parties and create an interior and exterior that binds it all together.

When I think of the holidays for myself and the year’s end, I meander back in my mind to the experiences I had.  Yes, the food, atmosphere and people are there, but I mostly think about how I felt.  What moved me.  And what do I want to experience this year.

I think my favorite New Year’s Eve was my first one with my husband when we went to a Kurosawa film with subtitles.  I was so in love with him I just didn’t care that it was three hours long and we had not had dinner. I just wanted to be there. With him.  The holiday events that stand out for me are when I was in church on Christmas Eve and it started to snow; when my siblings and I drove miles to surprise my mom on Christmas Eve and stand through a high Mass so she could look up and see us;   my first Hanukkah and Christmas with my husband;  the delight in my children’s eyes when they really got that there was a special event happening and it was all theirs.  I remember not eating turkey for Thanksgiving and then eating turkey for Thanksgiving; doing elaborate table settings and entertaining and some years, honing it down to what really mattered. The people. The pleasure. The connection. With no frills.

This year, I want all of us to take care of ourselves.  To create the experience that we want. To create the environment that will support us.  To create a memory of good will and gratitude for ourselves and to create  the catalogue, the choices, the pictures that work for us. To be clear and defined and inclusive all at once.  And to experience joy as it  unfolds.

Whether you are alone, in a crowd, at a setting you love or not, the deep appreciation of all of who you are is all that matters. When you are in that  place, that internal design, you can experience wonder and you can appreciate  people for exactly who they are and events for exactly what they are because you are there with yourself. For yourself.  And you got there by taking care of your needs and your desires and your wishes.  You will be enveloped in richness and the gold in your life will surface.  All around you.

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Kathy Hoyer
11 years ago

Oh Ellen this is so beautiful and so heart felt! Definitely for me the more simple things are the happier I am, and all that matters is the love that we share for each other.

authorlady60
11 years ago

Thanks, Kathy, I am so glad you liked it! This entry came to me after receiving a catalogue yesterday and I was inspired. So glad that that you are Clear!

Dale Dillon Lips
11 years ago

I am already starting to feel anxious about the holiday season being just around the corner! It seems that there are so many expectations to deal with…including my own!

authorlady60
11 years ago

Dale, what terrific insight for you to GET that your expectations are there and maybe a bit overwhelming? Thanks so much for sharing. I know that you are not alone…

Carolyn Monjoi
Carolyn Monjoi
11 years ago

This is a beautiful Muse reminding me of so much joy I’ve experienced during the holidays as I grew up. Thanks so much.

authorlady60
11 years ago
Reply to  Carolyn Monjoi

Carolyn, I am so glad that this awakened those fond memories for you. I am hoping that other readers will do this and then create a wonderful present from a remarkable historical memory. Thanks!

Terri Stark
Terri Stark
11 years ago

Always beautiful the ways
you remind us to be present in all of our experiences El!

authorlady60
11 years ago

Thank you, Terri! Yes, presence is essential during a time when we are pulled and sometimes pushed to be in environments that are stimulating and invasive! Thank you so much for feeling the importance of presence with me!

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