Bah humbug ?!...

 

  "In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." 

 - Deepak Chopra

 

An appropriate little quote for today I think, as people are no doubt rushing around Christmas shopping and the like... 

I feel quite distanced from the hustle and bustle of it all, as I won't be doing any of that this year... I've stepped back from all the commercialism;  I've taken a stand against consumerism, and I'm just not taking part in it all. This year, Christmas Day is going to be about me and Iona having a relaxing day, maybe watching a dvd, hopefully having a nice dinner, but mainly just having a reflective, chilled out day.

Partly it is out of necessity - I simply haven't got the money to buy anything, and I'm up to the limit on my credit card, so that isn't an option. Also, my family has shrunk to the extent that it feels that there are just the two of us now, and the main thing is that this year it's going to be quite a sober affair, as it's the first Christmas without Iona's dad. So it really is going to be a 'stripped back to the basics' kind of thing, but I'm quite looking forward to it, I think - albeit in quite a tentaive way.... I'm looking forward to baking, making sweets, maybe making creative little token presents for each other... It's going to be very different to previous Christmases, but it's quite liberating to realise that it doesn't have to be about spending far too much money, getting into debt, and getting far too stressed out. 

Maybe it's time we all had a rethink about what Christmas really means to us, as individuals. 

Make it simple; make it matter.  

Above all, make sure you press the 'pause button' of life every now and then, so that you can breathe, relax and take stock - especially over the next couple of weeks leading up to the festivities...

At the end of the day, Christmas should be about spending quality time with people we love -and that is exactly what I'll be doing.