Happy Holidays

[pameladlloyd]

I want to wish each and every one of my friends a joyous holiday season, regardless of their beliefs or the specifics of their celebrations, or even whether they celebrate, at all. If it comes to that, I hope that this coming year will be full of good things, happy moments, and many, many causes for celebration.

Although none of the members of my family are Christian, we still celebrate the holiday season with what I sometimes call the pagan trappings of Christmas. We have a tree and everyone gets presents on Christmas day. I am, at this moment, listening to a Bing Crosby version of "The Holly and the Ivy" via Pandora.com, which I discovered via someone on my flist (but, I don't remember which of you it was and I can't turn up the entry). Before I remarried, I sometimes considered moving our celebrations in a more inclusive direction, that recognized the traditions of non-Christian groups, or to a more overtly pagan one, but I never really followed through on this. Some family traditions are hard to change, even when the underlying beliefs that are seen as the reason for those traditions do not apply. So I, an agnostic, enjoy the opportunity to celebrate and to share a special time with my family, as do my husband and stepsons, Buddhists all, who celebrate Christmas with a fervor of cooking, huge amounts of candy, and an insistence that Santa is a very real spirit being.

Some of my friends don't celebrate Christmas. They may celebrate other traditions, or none at all. There is an intensity to this holiday that can be overwhelming, even for people who are Christians, much less for the innocent bystanders who don't celebrate and yet may feel barraged with Christmas sentiments wished upon them by well-meaning friends and even strangers. For those of you who are feeling overwhelmed, annoyed, or down in the dumps, I hope that you will find peace and comfort. I wish you good things, now, and in the coming year.

Happy holidays, all.

Comments

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Too bad your kids didn't get to play in the snow. Do you live somewhere where they'll be likely to have the opportunity again before the winter's over?

Although we rarely have enough snow in Tucson to play in, my husband often takes his boys (and mine, when they're available) up Mt. Lemon, where they can have snowy adventures.

[crinklequirk.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid, I'd have said yes, anywhere in Mn is guaranteed to have a bunch of wonderful snow days!

Now, though, if we've got the snow, it's so terribly cold to be taking kids out to play (as in, below 0 degrees, w/windchill factoring in), and when not, there isn't enough snow to bother with - and it's not usually the sort of snow (which used to be plentiful every winter) which is good for making snowballs and snowforts and snowangels in. . .

We're just a little too southern for that (weather patterns fly the good stuff just north of the cities here), sadly enough.

But we'll keep trying!

Now I just have to get that felting done, and stitch up the new felted socks for my LL Beans, so I can run around with the kids! Lol, too tired for felting today (darn cold).

Nice avi, btw! :)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

All our weather patterns are in flux. *sigh*

I'm glad you like the icon; it's my one winter-themed user pic. I got it from semyaza, who finds wonderful, beautiful images from illuminated manuscripts and makes icons from them. :)