The Grey Tones of the Holiday Season

The Grey Tones of the Holiday Season

Not having any artistic talent to speak of, I nonetheless am learning something of the “design” world. When I say grey tones of Christmas, from a design perspective you don’t just have the bright reds, whites and greens, but you have the shadows, the contrasts, what makes the bright stuff stand out and shine. The same is true in our lives of course: we don’t always surround ourselves with the joy of extended family and holiday traditions, nor immerse ourselves in the nativity, the story of just how much we are each loved by our Abba, creator that he gave us Jesus, the first of many brothers and sisters. And so many in this world celebrate with bright colours this joyous, family time of year.

But for many people, these bright colours do not manifest in their lives, but rather as a sort of negative contrast, highlight the greys with their absence. There are people who have experienced these joys in the past, but can only now mourn their passing; others for whom trauma impairs their ability to access the joy of this season. For those who cannot celebrate these bright colours, their greys are darkened as they try to find ways to endure this time: some will succeed of course more than others, but they all feel the same dark pull, each in their unique way.

For those feeling this dark pull, whether you have completely admitted it to yourself or not, let me say something of my intentions for this time. For those who find themselves outside of the mainstream, there is an opportunity not available to those caught up in the busyness of career, families and social obligations. At some level we all know that we are one human family, all connected to each other in ways we don’t even understand, one of them being that we are all children of the creator: at some level we know this, but for many of us it does not come into our sense of self, who we are in our own eyes. Instead of being God’s/Gaia’s/the Universe’s children, special and gifted each in our own unique way; instead of such a consciousness we get entrapped in feeling less than, reduced or victimized, caught perhaps in a downward spiral dragged deeper by this dark pull. The opportunity I speak of is to simply change our focus: to be grateful for what we have (for we all have a LOT), and to take every opportunity to bless another. Do this as a simple decision, a choice of on what to focus, and whether it happens dramatically or gradually, your experience of yourself and this season will become different. This is my intention then for this period: to be grateful, to remember who I AM, and to bless others as I find the opportunity to do so! J

May you be blessed and a blessing! J

Your brother Dan J