The house is decorated, the groceries are bought, it is the week leading up to Christmas.
Today, we are 3 days (and a few hours) and 4 sleeps until Christmas.
Most years these days feel long with anticipation and excitement for me. They are filled with the preparations to travel to various cities to visit family and friends: packing, gift wrapping, and baking.
This year is different, I will admit calmer. The gifts have already been wrapped and sent weeks ago. The groceries are bought and there’s not much cooking to be done with just the two of us. The house is decorated and mostly tidy. The presents that have come in the mail are under the tree. And there won’t be any packing as we won’t be going anywhere. We will be cozying up in the house.
What’s left is mostly quiet waiting for the day to arrive. For the presents to be opened and for the rest period to start. Work has been busy building up to Christmas and the year end.
There is a beautiful peace to be found in the waiting, a peace in knowing that the day and all that it brings will come no matter what and that there is nothing that really needs to be done. We can breathe a little deeper, rest a little easier in knowing that the day is inevitable, this year even a little more inevitable than in other years maybe.
In my quiet waiting I will admit there is also a hesitancy, part of me doesn’t want the day to arrive because I don’t want it to be over. The lead up to Christmas gives us all something to look forward to and work toward and I’ll be honest I’m not sure what will be on the other side.
But, instead of being saddened by what isn’t happening or anxious about what is to come, I am trying to take advantage of the unique quiet and the rest that this Christmas break will bring. I want to spend hours writing, reading, sitting with a good cup’a, looking at the Christmas lights, watching movies, enjoying good food, and the company of my fur-kids and husband. And of course visiting with family and friends online.
More than anything I am wishing you, the HBLogs community, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I hope that wherever you are that you are safe, warm, fed, and in good company (even if it is virtual). I hope that you are able to take some time to rest and to experience the wonder of this season, even from the smallest of moments and sources.
How are you feeling about the lead up to Christmas this year, and what are you doing to enjoy this season however different it may be? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Next week’s post will include my reflections on this year and my hopes for the New Year coming. I have so much to share with you about where this blog is headed and how far we’ve come!
Write soon,
Hannah B.L.
HBLogs 