I know.

I know.

With all that is going on in the World right now, just the mention of “CHRISTMAS” could make me appear tone-deaf and out-of-touch.

But this is not about rushing the Season.

Quite the opposite.

This is about forging a path around the imposed commercialism and giving ourselves the time to create for ourselves a Season of Love and Kindness the way we would ideally like it to be.

If you have followed this Blog for a while, you know of my Passion for Christmas,

The Time of Fellowship

Peace on Earth

Good Will Toward All

The Season of Kindness

The thing that growing up, we wondered why it couldn’t be All Year Through…

Or if it could, how we might make that happen…

It is a Truly Beautiful Season

And its essence is Caring for One Another,

Loving One Another,

And extending Kindness through Good Deeds and Good Acts…

I cannot think of anything the world needs more, right now!

CHRISTMAS, like most things, works out Best when Planned for…

I am not a Big planning-within-an-inch-of-my-life kind of person.

But READINESS is a Gift.

When I am READY, things just go Better!

Life can feel so overwhelming – even in this pandemic and this sort-of- quarantine we’re all doing – it can feel tough to find time to get Ready and focus on some future experience when our attention is demanded by current projects and concerns.

But when something is important to us – say, a Wedding or Special Occasion — we plan in advance.

We make a list of what will need to be done, schedule out the time we have, budget, and take action to Get Ready for it.

Those of us in Show Business understand this well, as we go from Show to Show; 

This little bit of mindfulness often Creates some of our Happiest Memories!

For many of us, Christmases past contain some Joyful Memories – some traumatic ones, too perhaps, although I would venture a guess that the latter are more often than not from Christmases for which we didn’t plan as well.

This Year is a very unique and challenging one.

Christmas will not be the same.

We know this.

Perhaps Large Family Gatherings will not be taking place – Less Travel…

For those of us in New York, no crowds at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree,

And no massive crowds in stores…

Shopping & Shipping will likely be even more Online than in years past,

And we might be buying Less this Year overall, as for many of us, we are facing severe or more severe financial hardship.

Okay!
Good to take an inventory and know where things stand.

Now…

We have 75 Days!

Lets’ take some time and think about all the things we would ideally like to do for the people we Love to make them Happy! And by that, we make our Soul Happy!

Lets’ envision the Better World in which we would like to be Living!

Hopefully, by this Christmas, we will have a new Governmental Administration.

But Maybe Not!

Hopefully, we will have an approved vaccine against Coronavirus that works and is readily available to us.

But Probably Not!

Hopefully, we will be with Loved Ones.

But perhaps not as many as we had hoped…

We can begin to make a choice now:

Do we wish to envision and prepare for our Worst Christmas Ever?

Or do we wish to envision and prepare for our Best Christmas Ever?

What if we took some time Now, this weekend, and just sat down with a piece of paper or some phone app, and jotted down a few special ideas of things we might want to do or make happen for Christmas this year?

What if we jotted down for ourselves our vision for Christmas 2020?

Has it been a tough year? What if we gave ourselves permission to envision for ourselves the Very Best Christmas – one that would make the Whole Year worth it?

Are there some special recipes we might like to make?

Someone with whom we’d like to be in touch?

A Zoom Christmas Party we might like to coordinate before everyone’s calendars get filled with obligations…

Is there an elderly neighbor or shut-in who could use our socially-distanced help?
Are their Local Charities at which we might like to look into some volunteering at the Holidays?

Is there someone we need to Forgive?

Is there someone for whom we’d like to do something personal that would take some time to prepare?

Maybe we want to hand paint some items from a craft store to give as gifts?

Perhaps we want to write or draw some gifts this year?

Perhaps we want to think about engaging our family in a White Elephant Gift Exchange, by mail (in which names are picked, and each person gives up one thing they own that they think the family member they’ve picked will just LOVE, so the only new cost involved is shipping).

Begin Planning.

Get READY.

What I would LOVE is if I were Very Wealthy and could just send everyone I know a check for a thousand dollars as a Christmas Gift this year and help to make people’s situations easier.

But that is not the case at the moment.

So now to figure out the next Best Thing…

Other Ways I can make people’s Lives easier…

Better…

More JOYful…

Christmas is Coming.

It’s 75 Days Away.

And there is plenty of time to plan for how we would like to Celebrate the Season of Kindness and Giving and Love this year…

Time to think Creatively about ways we can spread JOY and Help Others!

Time to Create a New Kind of JOYful Experience for ourselves and others…

Sure we can sit alone and dwell on what a miserable year it’s been and indulge in our woes.

But that would be to miss the entire point!
We can get off the pity pot,

Stand

Take a Step Forward

And embrace the Possibility of what this upcoming Holiday Season could be for us!

Has there ever been a time when JOYFULNESS would be More Welcome!

Get Ready…

Let us Open our Minds and our Hearts

To Creative Possibility

And the World as we would Like it to Be!

Prepare for JOY!

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