It doesn't really take a lot of time to observe the holidays in a meaningful way. It takes mindfulness.
I stumbled on this great truth my freshman year in college. Being home for a long weekend over Thanksgiving was great, but I had to go back to school for a jam-packed three weeks before celebrating Christmas with my family. There would be very little time for holiday stuff except for the Carol Service that I was in as a member of one of the campus choirs. The first day back, I found myself humming one of the carols all day. It calmed me, and filled me with the reverent anticipation that lighting the advent wreath at home did. The next day, I sang a different carol to myself, and the next, and about the fourth day, I decided to have a carol of the day every day of Advent. That year that I expected to be so dull and dispirited turned out to be a very special spiritual journey. It took no planning, no money, and no extra time in my day to focus on a different carol each day.
Well, more than 30 years later, I still have a carol of the day during Advent. For several years when the kids were still in school, I stuffed the name of a carol in each day's box on our advent calendar. So, every day, we pulled out the carol's name along with a few M&M's, and the whole family got in on my carol ritual. Most years, though, it has been my private observance with no planning at all ahead of time. In fact, it's fun to see which carol presents itself to me each morning.
So, what can you focus on each day to mark these holy-days?
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Why have you been holding out on your colleagues? I'd love to hear the carol of the day! If I could carry a tune, I'd sing along with you. Got a bucket? My own version of mindfulness during the season is to pause whenever my clock chimes a Christmas carol (at the top of each hour), and breathe in love, then send it out to a family member, friend, or client. But maybe it's the M&Ms that do the trick?!
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