1. A truly wonderful anniversary trip to Atlanta last week. Year 7.
2. Marveling at the AMAZING outdoor lights display at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights.
And Atlanta won the National Championship of outdoor holiday light displays!
3. The Amazing Ability to see!
4. This tree outside our Airbnb in Atlanta.
5. My anniversary cards from HR. (You may recall that Robert has this wacky habit of giving multiple cards on special occasions. Which at first I thought was sort of weird but now love it.)
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 13th Day of Advent … ENJOY A HOT DRINK.
Here are today’s instructions:
Time to treat yourself to a relaxing drinks break. Decide on which warm, soothing drink you would prefer — tea, coffee, hot chocolate; perhaps a seasonal mulled wine or hot toddy — and pour your full attention into the experience.
Pay attention to the sounds and sensations involved in making the hot drink. Hear the gurgle of the boiling water, see the steam rising, smell the drink’s aroma, feel the movement of the spoon as you stir. Notice every little action.
Wrap both your hands around the mug (check it is not too hot first). Notice and focus on the warmth resonating through your hands and body.
Drink peacefully and exclusively: alone, with your phone off. Try to resist any outside distraction — keep your attention on the drink.
Take each sip slowly — taste it, focus on your enjoyment of the taste, feel the liquid as it swills in your mouth and as it passes down inside your body.
Take your time. Don’t rush it down, take as long as you need to enjoy your drink. Notice how it makes you feel. Are you relaxed? Warmed up? Energised?
Drinking mindfully helps you practice how to direct your attention consciously and is a very effective form of relaxation.
Robert and I “meditated” with Caramel Brûlée Latte this morning here in Atlanta.
And a few of our other hot drinks over the years …
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, Day Five of Advent … “STUDY A CANDLE.”
Here are today’s instructions:
Candles are ubiquitous at this time of year and a mainstay of many a Christmas display. But how much time do you actually give to observing them?
Sit in a comfortable, peaceful place indoors where there is nothing that can distract you. Place a candle in front of you and light it. For five minutes, your task is simply to stare at the candle. Study everything you can about the candle, the flame and how it makes you feel.
Try to stay completely still and breathe slowly while maintaining your gaze on the candle. Watch the flame as it dances and flickers; is it beautiful, relaxing, hypnotic? Observe the wax melting at the top of the candle.
What other senses does the candle engage? Does it give off a scent? What emotions does it evoke?
Stopping your mind from drifting for five minutes is a tough challenge. Don’t feel bad when your mind wanders – just acknowledge where it is going and gently bring it back to the candle and the moment.
This task helps you train your mind to channel its focus and to stay in the moment. With practice, you will experience the sensation of full awareness on the flame, as the rest of your surroundings fade away.
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.
whychristmas.com
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 ….
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.
