Making Spirits Bright

Hello December! Hello to the busy holiday season, the sparkle in children's eyes, the warmth of a cozy fire, gingerbread men, and their houses. Hello to a month brimming with holidays, family, friends, feasts, gatherings, and blessings. It's finally the season for giving and, if you're lucky, also for receiving. But, okay, wait. Who's giving what, and what is anyone really receiving in this year's mid-pandemic, 'social' world?

Did someone forget to light the fire because they were too busy shuffling through Instagram? Is everyone witnessing the magic through a child's eye, or their Facebook screen? I'm not sure anyone's as jolly as the proverbial elf any longer since as I look around, I see a lot of people transfixed and living the holidays through an electronic life. It's almost as if the elves have become zombies. What season is that? I want no part of it.

So how can we go about making spirits bright again? How can we bring the Spirit back to daily holiday life? Joy, laughter, love, you know, the basics. Let's figure out how to get some of those basics back in our world. Dial back to a time when people brought gifts to the door. The mailman delivered cards, stacks of them, from relatives and neighbors, and Christmas trees were real.  

Well, first, try turning off the phone, smile underneath that mask, give yourself a little time, and simply bake a cookie. Better yet, bake several dozen with a child, box them and take them to your friends. Gather a few buddies, pass cups of hot chocolate, have fun practicing carols, and take your 'act' to an assisted living facility or nursing home (careful to wear masks, of course).

You can wrap small gifts of lip gloss, socks, mittens, or gloves, and take them to a women's shelter, mission, or both. Put together a basket of fruit specifically for the workers at these facilities. They are self-sacrificing, and they get hungry too. These 'acts of joy' are easy ways to bring holiday cheer to others. Joy, by the way, spreads, so when you give it, you get some in return. Try it today!

Remember, it's the 'season' for giving, so you can plan several ways and days to make someone else's spirit bright. While planning your schedule, set a bit of time aside for people who need the most help. Instead of cookies, think blankets, coats, hats, scarves, and healthy food. Shelters are at their fullest in colder months, and food pantry shelves are usually sparse. Now is the time to think it through by donating boxes of powdered milk with the cereal and can openers to open the canned vegetables (or get pop-top lids). Pillows are great, but splurge if you can and donate the allergy and dust mite-proof covers too. Call before you go to ask what's needed, and lastly, if you've got an extra dollar or two, budget in a check to your favorite charity. No gift is too small when you are holiday cheer-giving.  

Whatever you do, show up, be present, stay safe, and enjoy the holidays away from the phones and screens. Life is too short to miss the happiness that giving can bring. Go out and make your merry and someone else's spirit bright. Happy Holidays to You!

This article first appeared in the Traveler Weekly Newspaper December, 2021