Human Sacrifices

You know me, the holidays have always held a special place in my heart. Being some where between Buddhist Priest and Druid, I enter into the season with trepidation, never knowing which way to turn. This year, left to my own devices, I decided to go with the pagan motif as it seemed more in touch with my inner self at the moment. So it was a rock crystal mobile dripping down my staircase interspersed with silver snowflakes, white lights and an occasional ornament - kind of Auntie Mame. White poinsettias surround our living room and a silver, white and gold Christmas Tree touched by a smidgen of red for flavor stands proud by the fireplace. The third floor is more sedate with dark red poinsettias as the theme, still to soon for the family tree. Maybe, I thought, a few treasured ornaments and accessories would do but we will see.

Did you ever notice that the holidays seem to bring out the best and the worst in people. If you are in a good place your great, but god forbid that you are in the dumps because it will only get worse. However, there is salvation at hand. I have learned that if you are not in a good place in your head at the holidays the best thing to do is to go somewhere else, physically that is. Yes! Run away!!

I know that you can't run away from life forever but you can run away from Uncle Burt and Aunt Emmie. You can ignore Santa Claus and go with Santana or you can enjoy a Merry Christmas in Margaritaville. Be creative for goodness sake and give your inner Santa a "Sidecar". Hang those jalapeño pepper lights and make merry with your boyfriend Harry or your girlfriend Mary! You don't have to stew in other peoples puddings you know and you don't have to sing their holiday anthems. What you do have to do is to listen to your very own inner voices and let them take you to that place that makes you happy. Sure you can always bring a few people along if you want to but it is not a requirement.

This year I think that I just might invite a select group to help me celebrate my Pagan Solstice and we might just make a sacrifice too!

Happy Holidays

The leaves of summer have turned their color and are now falling to the ground carpeting the earth with a coat of many colors, giving warmth to the now barren earth and providing nourishment for the season to come. Upon the horizon I am looking at the shadow of November which has now over taken me and is rushing me once again into the holidays ahead.

What has changed since a year ago today? Everything and nothing at the same time. Life seems to go on with or without us and I sometimes wonder what the point of all this constant concern really is. Perhaps we are concerned lest we loose are place at life's table. If we loose our place, our identity, then it is only a matter of time before we become forgotten and part of the past, left behind to fend for ourselves in the wilds of solitude.

But we are in fact meant to be free beings and whether we choose to live alone or to entangle our lives with those of others, we will live and love only as much as is our capacity to do so. As we gather around our Thanksgiving tables this year with friends and family let us celebrate each other and remember just how fragile and transient life is so that we may enjoy it all the more.

So as the Holidays rush in and dazzle us with their opulence remember that close behind waiting in the dark and quiet of winter is the time when we will need our friends, on occasion, and our memories, always, to brighten our days until the spring sets us free to run again through the fields and forests of our lives. To gather new memories and to bask in the sunshine that is ours.