May your Holiday 2023 be filled with an Abundance of All Things you consider Good.
LOTSA LOVE, NEAL & HR
One more selfie …
(Robert always takes the selfies because I invariably drop the phone.)
A Selfie Christmas
Tag: Holidays
Countdown to Christmas: 12/24/23 — “Sing a Christmas Song”
This year my Countdown to Christmas is a nontraditional Advent Calendar centering (pun intended) on mindfulness.
On the front of each card is neat little picture, and on the back are the instructions for the short meditation.
Today, the 24th and last Day of Advent … SING A CHRISTMAS SONG.
Here are today’s instructions:
Activating your body, mind, breath and voice, there are few activities that involve you more comprehensively in the present than singing. Your task today is to sing a Christmas song.
Don’t worry, this need not be some grand solo performance to an audience – it could be singing carols as part of a group, an a cappella version in the safety of the shower, or simply singing along to a song on the radio – wherever you choose to sing, all that matters is that you give it your full attention and really go for it.
Feel the breath in your chest and the vocal vibrations in your throat; hear the sound of your voice; follow the patter of the melody, consider the meaning of the lyrics. Feel the various emotions involved, both in the tone and message of the song and in the personal feelings you get from the activity of singing. And most of all, enjoy singing for singing’s sake, for the fun and expressive act that it is.
Singing engages you completely in the moment and can be as relaxing as it is exhilarating.
Here’s a short video of grandson Daniel and his girlfriend Amalie singing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” at a Savannah Ghost Pirates ice hockey game last night …
May your Christmas 2023 be a Song of Joy.
Countdown to Christmas: 12/23/23 — “Free Writing: Christmas Past, Present and Future”
This year my Countdown to Christmas is a nontraditional Advent Calendar centering (pun intended) on mindfulness.
On the front of each card is neat little picture, and on the back are the instructions for the short meditation.
Today, the 23rd Day of Advent … FREE WRITING: CHRISTMAS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
Here are today’s instructions:
Get a pen and paper and give yourself half an hour for this mindful writing exercise. In three ten-minute periods, you will put pen to paper and write, without stopping, on the subjects of Christmases past, present and future, and see where this takes you.
Set an alarm for ten minutes and start writing about Christmases from your past. This could begin with a memory, an image, a feeling, a description of a scene. Just take the first idea that comes to you and run with it. Don’t worry about quality – nobody else will read this but you.
Don’t stop until the alarm. If you find yourself stuck for something to write, just write random words until a new thought takes over. If the subject veers away from Christmas, no problem, just go with the new thought and see where you end up.
When the ten minutes are up, reset the alarm and start writing again, this time starting with thoughts on the present. How is the current advent period going? How do you feel right now? Start writing and follow these thoughts, submitting them to paper without pause.
Next, repeat the exercise for Christmases of the future. What are your hopes, expectations, predictions? Again, don’t worry about writing badly or if the subject changes. Just keep focused on the act of writing, on following a thought from your mind to the page.
Finally, mindfully read what you have written.
H.R. writing IN HIS SANTA PANTS at Tugaloo State Park in Gumlog GA …
Countdown to Christmas: 12/21/23 — “Taste the Flavors of Christmas”
This year my Countdown to Christmas is a nontraditional Advent Calendar centering (pun intended) on mindfulness.
On the front of each card is neat little picture, and on the back are the instructions for the short meditation.
Today, the 21st Day of Advent … TASTE THE FLAVORS OF CHRISTMAS.
Here are today’s instructions:
Certain flavours are inextricably linked to Christmas. A mince pie, a piece of gingerbread, a glass of sherry or eggnog, anything with nutmeg in it.
For this mindful tasting exercise, simply choose one of your favourite Christmas treats, and for a few minutes give your full attention up to the enjoyment of its flavours.
Before you start eating or drinking, sit down with your treat in front of you and engage your other senses. Notice how the treat looks, smells and feels. Is your mouth watering? Do you have any particular expectations? Fully experience the present moment, the palpable anticipation before the enjoyment.
Consume your treat as slowly as possible. Focus on the feel and taste of each bite or sip, the texture and sensations in your mouth. Consider all the flavours that are combined in what you can taste.
Try to block out all other thoughts and concerns for these few minutes of enjoyment. Channel all your attention solely into the experience of consuming this Christmas treat. Do the flavours bring back any fond memories of Christmases past? Are any other emotions awakened? Simply notice the progression of your emotions and bodily sensations as you eat or drink.
This exercise should demonstrate how much there is to enjoy when we take our time with our food and drink and focus our mind completely on the enjoyment of the present.
YUM!
“The World Is Big, But Little People Turn It Around”
Looking through a file recently, Robert came across a CD with a Christmas music video grandson Daniel did as a project with his voice teacher. Daniel was eight at the tine.
Here’s the video:
Jump from 2015 to today …
Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 12/11/23 “Seven”
Definitely marveling today.
Robert and I are up in Atlanta for a week celebrating our Seventh Wedding Anniversary.
We’re staying at a very cool Airbnb with a terrific view of the Atlanta skyline from our balcony.
Other than sitting on the balcony, we’ve seen a beautifully moving performance of A Christmas Carol at The Alliance Theatre …
God blessed us everyone!
And The Nutcracker at The Cobb Energy Center …
(Do you think at 71 I’m a bit too old to become a world-famous male ballet dancer?)
For our anniversary dinner, we went to the beautiful Atlanta Fish Market.
Afterwards, I went to the market section of the restaurant and bought HR a good-sized fish for our anniversary—and then had our picture taken in front of it before it was iced and wrapped to be taken home.
Tonight we head to The Atlanta Botanical Garden for their FABULOUS Garden Lights, Holiday Nights outdoor lights display.
Come and go with us! Help us celebrate 7.
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!
Five Friday Happy Bringers 11/24/23
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. This incredible Christmas Cactus in the hallway of our local YMCA.
2. Continuing our tradition of putting up our Travel Tree on Thanksgiving night.
Each ornament is from somewhere we have visited over the years.
3. The ability to smell. Especially during the holiday season!
4. Having a cozy spot to read and touch toes with HR.
5. Pretty blossoms reaching down to pose for photos with Robert.
May you find a cozy spot to enjoy this weekend.
Neal’s Post from the Past: “Gratitude Turkey”
Here’s a post from over a decade ago, starring my young grandson (five at the time), Daniel.
I picked up Grandson Daniel (5) from school yesterday, and, hopping into his back seat, he excitedly showed me his just-completed Turkey Basket (well, that’s what he called it anyway).
As I soon learned, the turkey project was two-fold: first the cute little construction paper turkey itself. But as you can see in the pictures below, the front housed a nifty envelope (basket?) which held little gratitude or thanksgiving cards.
For each note, Daniel and his classmates completed the statement “I am thankful for ____ because …” for their family members.
What a joy! Little ones expressing their thankfulness so sincerely. Below Daniel explains to me that his plan for Thanksgiving Day consists of waiting till “all the guests” have eaten “some of their turkey” and then “hand out the slips.”
And he did just that–for all fourteen of the folks at the table. His mom helped him with some of the spelling, but the sentiments were exclusively his.
Here’s mine:
“I am thankful for Abu (that’s me) because he helps with decorations.”
(Okay, maybe that sounds a bit strange, but the day before, we had decorated for Thanksgiving with some outdoor lights. And a month earlier we had carved two jack o’ lanterns.)
What Thanksgiving Joy! We really all do have so very much to put in our Turkey Baskets.
[For more on “Abu” see “My Favorite Word Is Abu!” post.]
NealEnJoy 