Magic…

The last few weeks have been crazy busy, as I’m sure they have been for most of you as well. There is something wonderful and terrifying about this season. The wonder is the lights, the food, the get-togethers, special plans, etc. The terrifying is mostly self-imposed, I think. It’s trying to get the house perfectly clean, the baking done, the gifts purchased and wrapped, the tree decorated and on and on. Along for the ride are regular work days which seemed consumed with the desire to get it “all” done before the holidays. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves.

This blog may come across as slightly confused but to be honest my thoughts have been jumbled recently. A couple of weeks ago I was attending in-person meetings for the week. That means driving into the city and that drive can be anywhere from 50 to 90 minutes, depending on weather and traffic. That’s a lot of time to sit in a car and not do anything! My preferred listening in the morning is the BBC World Service. To be honest, I’m a bit of a news junkie. I want to know what’s going on around the world, politically as well as people-wise. Well, let me tell you that week was packed full of global events. At the beginning of the week a 50 year dictatorship in Syria was overturned. The people were in the streets rejoicing at the end of decades of terror. The opening of political prisons released real life horrors to the world at large. The rebels who toppled the dictator are now an uncertainty themselves as the population isn’t sure what will be next.

We have wars ongoing in many areas of the world along with new uprisings in Mozambique and Somalia. Weather events such as cyclones are causing death and destruction. Food insecurities are everywhere. Governments are facing their citizens’ wrath over economic uncertainties. In Canada we seem to be hearing daily veiled threats from the new president-elect to the south of us. If you look at social media, and I’ll admit I do, there are so many examples of hatred that it overwhelms me. In particular, why do people think they have a right to put down entertainers for having opinions? Why are we so quick to dismiss talent that doesn’t appeal to us? It’s as though by putting someone down we are trying to make ourselves superior. Are we looking to somehow feel better about ourselves by reducing someone else to less?

Here we are entering this season of celebration. A time we describe as “merry and bright”, filled with hope, joy, love and peace. How do we do that with a heart open to the goodness of the season in a world so filled with strife? As adults do we long for the memories of childhood when we didn’t carry these worries? I know I’ve looked back with fondness for how much fun it was. It was hard to get to sleep on Christmas Eve in anticipation of Santa’s visit. Who didn’t wake before dawn bouncing to get to the Christmas tree to see what was left for us? And wow! Doesn’t that sound like it was all about the loot? As much as I remember that feeling of expectation and excitement, I know it was about more than the presents. It was going to Christmas Eve mass wearing a new outfit, new pyjamas for Christmas Eve, the toys of course but also the smells coming from the kitchen, the smiles on my parents’ faces as they saw our reaction when opening gifts, and watching my dad bring my gram in the door when she joined us later in the day.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks thinking about the magic of Christmas. I’ve been looking around for signs of magic, wanting to capture the wonder of it. In this blog I’ll share some of the flashes of magic I’ve found and invite you to look for magic in your own world.

As I mentioned, I was travelling to the office for a week of meetings a short time ago. My commute can be stressful and I find there is an added stress when spending long hours with multiple people. With the majority of my time spent alone working from home, a lot of people wear me out. On the afternoon of the fourth day, as exhaustion was setting in for everyone, I was seated with two colleagues from opposite sides of the country. They were obviously enjoying each other’s company. There were quiet giggles and smiles as they shared time together. Someone in the greater group mentioned “from the horse’s mouth” and one of my seat companions immediately commented, “I am a horse”. It doesn’t seem like much on the two dimensional surface of my laptop but it was so quick and witty that it brought a smile to many faces, mine included. Their pure happiness in being together was a bit of magic at the end of a long week.

This past week a friend and I made time to have lunch together. Neither of us is ever that thrilled about going to the office, to be honest. We became friends when I first arrived at head office almost eight years ago and we miss being in the same office. We wanted to see each other, to eat together, to walk back to our cars together. We chatted and caught up with each other’s lives and plans for the holidays. Even though the weather forecast wasn’t the greatest, we made our visit a priority and drove into the city. That’s a little magic on a dreary, grey day.

My mom and my little niece share a special bond. During Advent my niece stops at my mom’s house each morning to “check in” and to open the day’s Advent calendar selection. The joy they have together is a wonderful bit of magic but at this time of year it gets even better. My niece has a best friend and this year has been picking up two treats each morning (lovingly provided by my mom), one for her and one for the best friend. At 11 years old, my niece is bringing magic to life.

Speaking of Advent calendars, I have a few, as I’ve mentioned before. Each morning as we get closer to Christmas, I start my day by moving my marker along, changing the countdown, and getting my own treat of mint chocolate. You don’t have to be a child to enjoy that magic!

I spent most of yesterday doing errands and shopping in a neighbouring town. I did not encounter one grump! In fact, my first stop was at my car dealership as I wanted to get my tires checked. I took them a small tin of Christmas baking. The guys were in it and sampling in minutes. They enjoyed it so much it put a huge smile on my face. From there to putting gas in my car, getting groceries, stopping at a craft shop and hitting up a coffee shop for frothy drinks to finish our morning, my mom and I only saw smiling faces and heard the refrains of Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. It was a busy day everywhere and no one seemed too rushed to smile at one another. In a world that is often marred by impatience it was magical to see the joy of the season on people’s faces.

We had a fresh layer of snow deposited this past week. With the cold temperatures we’re currently experiencing we’ll have a white Christmas this year. All the changes we’re seeing with climate change means we can end up with green or rather, brown, Christmases. I think a white Christmas helps me “feel” the season. Fresh snow is clean. It paints the world with a new look. When the snow fell this past week it made everything sparkle with magic.

I love giving gifts when I can. I like figuring out the perfect reflection of a friend. Sometimes I’ll pick a theme for family gifts. Last year everyone got specialty mugs with socks and gift cards. This year I decided to choose according to the individual. I have so much fun looking for the best gift. Sometimes I do okay, sometimes I hit it out of the park and sometimes I probably don’t get it quite right. And they’re all good choices because they are my magic. This year I tried to find gifts that would speak to the person. I have a friend who recently moved into their family’s new home. She’s surrounded by males and I thought pretty delicate glassware might be something just for her. The truth is it was about how I see her and if she likes it, well there’s the magic. The reality with gift giving is there are constraints. Cost, availability, ability to deliver the gift and so on. The magic is in getting it to come together and this year I feel really good about my choices.

I have felt rather overwhelmed with everything in my calendar this year. I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to, according to my plan. I love to bake. I especially love to bake at Christmas. I have a friend who always gives me a beautiful tin with delectable morsels from her kitchen and usually I’m able to respond in kind. This year I was way behind. I only had shortbread made by the date of our Christmas lunch so I picked her up a sampler of mustards from a village shop. My friend would have been very understanding if I had nothing to share with her but I felt better for being able to add to my shortbread. Well, out of nowhere I found a little bit of energy and inspiration on Friday night and got a pile of baking done. I am thrilled to share my baking tins with shortbread, chocolate balls, peppermint kisses, brown butter fudge and peanut butter squares. The magic of knowing that I am giving a treat to those who matter to me is indescribable. There is magic in the smiles I receive from those to whom I hand a tin.

Magic is all around us; we just have to open our eyes and hearts to see it. It can be the hug you get from a family member or friend. It can be the way someone’s eyes light up when they see you. It can be the feeling you have sitting in your church and looking at the nativity scene that is the reason behind it all. Merry Christmas my friends. May your week be filled with joy, wonder and MAGIC!

Christmas baking!

The magic of freshly fallen snow.