As the morning of Christmas Eve dawns, we here at Life’s Patina would like to send you our Christmas wishes. As you know, our mantra is to celebrate the beauty of life, past and present. As each year unfolds into another, and we are on the verge of celebrating the most festive of holidays, the events of the year can highlight that beauty, bringing it to a heightened glow that touches the soul or the beauty can seem to have been snuffed out. 

To all of you… if that beauty in life is a stunning gold right now…or a dark tunnel… hang onto the beauty, embrace it, feel it, participate in the moments that make it so with every fiber of your being, for it is a shining beacon of JOY that we all need to feel a bit more in this life. And those moments and events that make it so need to be protected and cherished. So may you feel those moments of JOY this Christmas and may you protect that time that brings on that joy. May you continue in the traditions that often help to create that JOY. May the mundane activities that lead up to this eve of anticipation… the shopping, the wrapping, the grocery shopping, the cleaning, the cooking… be done with intention and felt with every fiber of your being…even the aches and pains… for they truly are part of that JOY if you let them be. May you look at it ALL with a positive outlook for it will change those activities from a hassle to “part of the beauty.”

At what other time of the year are you going to cut a pine tree down or select one from a Christmas tree farm, lot or store, drag it inside and bedeck it with lights and sparkly things? Seriously… when? When are you going to bond with others, putting up that tree, laughing at past ornaments that bring back memories of the years that have sped by, unbeknownst to you? We go to my mom and dad’s house every year to help them put up their tree and it is one thing that our children request to do, regardless of the fact that my parents seem surprised that Christmas is upon them, no matter that it comes the same day every year. That’s a topic for another post. My point is to embrace those traditions that bond the family unit together. Is all of it good? Most certainly there are parts of it that make you cringe, relatives that might get under your skin, packed house conditions, travel on the road… the list can go on and is different for each of us…

BUT

most of it is good and most of the moments created can be even better when ones heart is into it. Traditions bring stability in an ever changing world, they create feel good moments, moments of recollection of this beautiful and yes, often heartbreaking world we live in. If you are living in that dark tunnel right now, that feels like there is no light, it just might be so, but the light will come back, it can be found. May you be surrounded by people who will help bring back that light or may you be the light that helps others find their way in the dark …either way, there will be benefits for both. May you set a place for the people that might not be at your table this year. May you share stories that invoke a closeness to them, even if they are not here. May you grieve for their loss, yet create new traditions that might tie in the memories of how they impacted your life which in turn might  help you to find laughter in those tears.  May you carry their light within you and spread it. 

Life is different during this time of the year, the Holiday season. Embrace that difference, ride with it, feel it, live it and enjoy it. For soon, it shall pass, normalcy will return and your anticipation of next years Holiday season will be felt. Live in the moment, truly looking at the people who surround you and relish their presence. Realize that we cannot change people, none of us are perfect, no situation is perfect,  but we can change our outlook.

So in closing, may your outlook on your life be one of thanksgiving and gratitude for the blessings that you have received this year. May it be filled with the JOY of life.  We here at Life’s Patina wish everyone a very Merry Christmas filled with wonder,  appreciation and the beauty of life… past and present… at this time of year!

May your Christmas be filled and enlightened with the music of life!

~Meg and Maggie