Holiday Thoughts

The holidays often leave me vacillating between these two extremes.
There is the joy of the season with its bright lights, special foods, traditions and time with family and friends.
Then there is the frantic nature of getting everything done, dealing with cranky shoppers, and traffic at the mall.

I try to avoid some of the frenetic stuff but there still remains both joy and those more trying times.
Today as I write this I am somewhere in the middle of these two personalities.
Most everything is coming together rather well and in a timely manner.
But I have some inner turmoil that the holidays always leave me with.
It has become a time when I miss family members who are far away or gone.
It is easy to become maudlin if I am not careful.

So I need to follow the practice of my step-daughter who often posts "3 good things" causing her to really contemplate all that she has to be grateful for instead of concentrating on the negative.
Here are my "3 good things" for this season;
 1.Most of the cookies are made and we haven't eaten them all before Christmas.
2. Our tree is full of ornaments, some old and passed down to us by family members, others hand made by a variety of children, artists and friends. Thinking about the people who who gave us the ornaments creates a connection to those who are far away or no longer with us.
3. Today I will have time to work in the studio.

Wishing you all the comforts of the season without too much undue stress.
Clare

www.claremurrayadams.com