The Giving Season

December 16, 2011 by

With only nine days until Christmas, I have to say the spirit has evaded me this year.

Not that I’m a Scrooge. I love the sentiment behind Christmas. I really enjoy decorating and baking and taking time to think of others. What I don’t enjoy is the extra dose of stress that tends to go along with all of that.

Face it. Life moves at a faster clip than it did ten or even five years ago. Hours turn to days and days to weeks within a blink of an eye. One day it’s Thanksgiving, the next it seems to be the Fourth of July. When your everyday life keeps you running from the moment your feet hit the bedroom floor until you’re back in the evening settling in for a few hours of shut-eye, it’s hard to be happy about all the extra duties of the holiday.

While talking with a friend yesterday, I realized that those responsibilities we give ourselves–the extra work and the rigmarole–isn’t really the meaning behind the season.

This year, I struggled to get my Christmas cards out and was disappointed that they weren’t in the mail the weekend following Thanksgiving.  I pouted because I got out voted on decorations. Since we will be out-of-town for the holidays, the rest of the family deemed them an unneccesary stress. I struggled to find time to bake and I’ve fretted over what gifts I’m going to purchase and how I’m going to get them delivered.

This morning, when I delivered a plate of fresh-bakes treats to our bank as a thank-you to the ladies (and gentleman) who I deal with on a daily basis, and saw the sincere appreciation at being remembered that I realized every bit of pressure we put on ourselves to make a holiday perfect, moves us further away from the real intent.

Being remembered. Doing for another. Giving of ourselves.

Those are the real meanings of the season.

And that shouldn’t be something that causes you stress. It should come from the heart.

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Traditionally, this blog goes on hiatus for the last two weeks of the year, but this year I will be guest blogging the MVRWA Group Blog on December 26 and will cross link to that post here.

***

In the new year I will be changing the posting schedule here.  Instead of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posts, I will post on Tuesday and Thursday … with an occasional weekend bonus post.

Look for the first post of 2012 to hit these pages January 3, 2012.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Treasuring Time Off

April 22, 2011 by

Fridays are what I consider “light post” days so I’m taking a break from my mini-series on time saving tips for writers.  We’ll pick back up with some tips next week.

Today, I’m pushing through the work on my desk, hoping to get an early start to the holiday weekend, and it occoured to me that as we get older and  our responsibilities change…so does our mindset. Though I always try to remember the real reason behind the holiday, I have to admit this week my focus has been on 2 days that I can spend taking care of things that haven’t been tended to at home.

And preparing for an upcoming garage sale.

Yes, I’m looking forward to spending time with family Sunday evening, but catch up and relaxation are definately in the forefront of my mind.

Plus…if I can get out early today, I can hit the gym.

Do you have plans for the holiday weekend?

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Monday Musings: The Labor Day BBQ

September 7, 2009 by

So even though today is Labor Day, we had that traditional cookout with friends and family yesterday.  All-in-all, it was nice. I love to entertain and we don’t do it nearly enough in my book, so it was a lot of fun to have people over and cook for them.  But traditional BBQ? No, not really.

The menu consisted of grilled chicken (some marinated in a honey teriyaki and some in a ginger sesame) and steak, but the rest of the menu was less than traditional fare: oven baked cheese potatoes, fresh baked biscuits, labordaysteamed broccoli and a desert of either strawberry cheesecake or strawberry shortcake, but, of course, the important part was the company, and it was definitely good, relaxing, and fun. As good as the food was, I have to say, I’m really looking forward to the more traditional Brats and potato salad which is planned for later today.

But the achievement I felt best about yesterday was making a writing goal — 1k new words — on a day that was complicated by cooking and impending company.  I hope to at least match that if not exceed it today, but I do have to run some errands this afternoon.

Process on last weeks writing goals: I wrote about 4k new words, edited approx 25 pages, marked up 75 pages to include a second POV, and sent out approx 10 queries on a completed project.

This week’s goals: 5-7k new words, 50 pages of edits.

Enjoy your holiday, everyone.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , ,