Countdown to Christmas: 12/1/23 — “Look Out the Window”

For some reason, I came up with the idea of trying to find a nontraditional Advent Calendar this year as a way to honor the season. I have enjoyed various types and styles over the years.

I finally found online a mindfulness Advent Calendar in the format of 25 cards, each with a short meditation.

It just came in the mail! See?

On the front of each card is a cute little picture.

And on the back are the instructions for the short mindfulness practice.

Robert and I both started it today, with the first meditation, “LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.”

I chose our second floor hallway window.

Oops, let’s wait till that car goes by.

That’s better.

I invite you to join us on this Countdown to Christmas 2023 starting today and leading up to the 25th.

Here are easier-to-read instructions for day one’s little meditation.

It’s the first day of Advent! How Christmassy do you feel? Whether your answer is “very” or “not at all’, the big day is hurtling towards us and there will already be several indications of that fact outside.

Let’s get things started with this mindful seeing exercise. Sit by a window for 5 minutes and just look out.

First: can you see anything that signifies Christmas? Is there frost on the ground? Are there lights and decorations anywhere? Focus on these things. Do they increase your festive anticipation? Are there any signs of Christmas that you have never noticed before? What thoughts and emotions do they evoke?

Next: channel all your awareness into all the other things you can see. Avoid simply labelling things and moving on; for each object, no matter how familiar, observe the shape, the colour, the patterns and the texture.

Notice how the elements interact with the environment, e.g. how the wind blows the branches in the trees.

Try to imagine the view from the perspective of someone who has never seen such sights.

This exercise will help you see and appreciate your local environment and realise just how busy and complex it is.

I was so surprised at what I saw — when I mindfully looked — out that window. Decorations that I had somehow missed in Charles and Faye’s yard across the street, a little bird in the Live Oak tree, a red car, a family on the sidewalk with the toddler skipping, resurrection fern on the tree branches, dust on the window panes ….

See you tomorrow!