Today is my 560th post where I created a piece of art for the blog. That is a lot of art for a long time. I am enjoying it and wanted to end the year on a different note, I wanted to be challenged. So we created the Calligraphy Meets Chopped (CMC) series. I had family members create a bag which included words, tools, paper and a time limit of 20 or 30 minutes. My husband hid the bags so I could not peek and once I was handed the bag and saw the time limit off I went.
This first piece was a test. My husband created the bag and handed it to me as we were testing recording, the Utube channel and the basic set up of the format. He laughed when we put his items into the bag so I knew I was in for something fun! His chosen phrase “the way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear”. It is a popular quote from the movie ELF that we say a lot this time of year. Once I read the words I laughed out loud and enjoyed the creation process.
I have been out and about these past few weeks and to a person everyone I talked to was astonished that Christmas is already here. Maybe the pandemic still has us a bit flustered? Maybe the weather has been too warm? Or maybe the fact that this year the pandemic is not isolating us as much as last year that cabin fever overtook the holiday spirit? Whatever it is, everyone I talked to feels a bit unprepared for the big day of the year that arrives in four days.
What is the holiday spirit? Does it depend upon what holiday you celebrate? Or does that matter? Has commercialism taken a stronger hold this year? Or maybe a new form of “freedom” has us all giddy and lax in our holiday spirit? Whatever it is we need more of it, which means we all may need to start singing loud for all to hear!
Fun, frivolity and Christmas spirit are contagious. When we get around people who are filled with it we catch it too and cannot help but feel better. It can be hard to be the one who goes without as much as it can be hard to always be the one has to do the singing. One thing I do know is that when we are around people who are full of energy and joy we cannot help but get enthused ourselves…and that’s a VERY good thing. Some days it is easier to do than others.
So in the name of holiday spirit, let’s all agree to bring our best self to work, family, community and any place where we are around others. For a few days we can leave our troubles behind and give our selves over to joy, laughter, silliness and pure old fun! Let’s give the gift of our best, happiest, most joyful selves to the people we interact with everyday. They deserve it, we deserve it and our year will then end on a high note.
FYI – for the rest of the year I will be posting a new episode in the CMC series…ho, ho, ho!
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