I usually save my soap box about creating your own holiday traditions and getting back to the actual meaning of Christmas for…well….Christmas. So we’ll hold on that for another week. Because unlike some radio stations, stores and shopping malls, I prefer to celebrate each holiday in its own time. Call me old fashioned. 🙂
So let’s talk about what’s upon us besides hours and hours of delightful gluttony. Thanksgivukkah this year, regardless of what spiritual tradition is informing your choice of delectable holiday fare, is all about people and gathering. Yes, we’re supposed to be gathering with those nearest and dearest to us and enjoying good times and good people to the utmost. And for those who are going to do so I say with the utmost sincerity, God Bless. Because it doesn’t get much better than that. And if you love those people, don’t take the black mail photos and if you do, don’t keep them. Don’t post them on the internet whatever you do! Because that’s not love, it’s just funny. 😛
But for those of you who will be doing your duty, doing what you can’t get out of, trying to do your best to celebrate the holiday the way it “should be”, trying to provide your kids the best holiday experience and memories that you can, things might not be so delightful. On the serious side of things, before you go into that situation, before you cook the dishes that are going to get dissed, packing the bags full of things that won’t suit or aren’t good enough, before you get into the conveyance that is going to get you from here to there or open that door to the faces that start the entire process…again….stop for a minute and decide how best to get you and your loved ones through it. Sometimes the most common sensical thing to do is take one for the team, grit your teeth, and just do what it takes to get through it. That’s what’s best for the kids, for you, for your spouse, etc. Other times the holidays are actually a great time to start practicing self care and boundaries by doing things differently than you have before. You can work on practicing a scientific type detachment which will allow you to see these other human beings as just that, human beings, not with an eye to forgiving or forgetting or mending anything, but to see the actions, the choices, the motivations apart from yourself and your own emotions. To see what they do that you might not have recognized before. To see how things get started, why and when. Because intel is the first step towards safely navigating a field full of landmines. If you know where not to step you can keep from getting hurt.
Now, on a lighter…or sometimes very practical note….sometimes it really is about self control just like being in recovery. Sometimes its about holding on with everything you’ve got in that moment so you don’t stab someone with the fork in your hand. This is a great time to practice yoga breathing and going inward. But first, put your cutlery down. Because yoga breathing and meditation should not be an excuse for why you didn’t realize you were jabbing at a relative with a sharp object. So put the cutlery down, put your hands in your lap, breath deeply, think loudly what you would like to say, validate your experience, know that it is true, that you probably would be justified in a court of law, and when you are centered and grounded again, continue on with your meal. This has the double benefit of keeping you out of trouble and making you seem amazingly reverent and grateful to the point of holier than thou which will get their goat.
Now go out there and gluttonize, everyone! Happy Thanksgivukkah!