Can’t See the Forest for the Christmas Tree 12/19/2021

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

This will be the last blog before my most beloved of all holidays arrives.  It seems so hard to believe. Where did this year go?  Time has been such a relative concept these last few strange years.  I think I was pretty certain at one point that August and September were going to last at least a decade each and then once we hit November the stretch has seemed to be an all downhill, heavily greased track.  I’ve been told the older I get the more slippery that slope will become.  I suppose it is because we try to do so much around this time of year. We are forever shopping be it for just the right gifts for the special people in our lives or for ingredients for the countless special dishes that we will make for seemingly endless gatherings and parties.  We probably sometimes let, or at least I know I let, the busyness of this time of year overtake the season at hand. Sometimes I think our best of intentions get muddled in all that we put upon ourselves this time of year. I think often we can’t see the magic that is right in front of us for trying to make everything magical.

As I am typing this I have beautiful instrumental music playing.  In my mind’s eye I see a quintessential scene.  I see softly falling snow in a country setting. It is drifting in flawless white mounds but the cold never touches me in my imagination because all of that wintry beauty is outside a frosted windowpane.  I am within this immaculate little cottage, knowing me it is probably somewhere in the English countryside if I had to guess, it’s my mind so who knows what it has come up with.  There is a crackling fire in a hearth that is putting out what is likely unrealistic heat that is perfectly distributed throughout the room and certainly does not get a bit too toasty if one stands too close. Over the blaze are of course the most adorable and quaint stockings hanging.  Nearby there is a decorated tree that is real but abnormally perfect in shape and fullness. Each branch is flawlessly festooned with ornaments and trinkets that catch the firelight just so. And let us not forget the adorable cat and dog that are clearly the best of friends that are nestled together in a furry knot on the rug in front of the fire.  They sleep soundly with only the occasional ear or tail twitch all the while smiling of course. Oh, and let me not forget that the room is filled with intoxicating smells of cinnamon and sugar that seeps into your very skin so just your mere presence there leaves you fragranced as if you were to be sold at a holiday bake sale.  Everything is warm and aglow.  In my mental picture I sit listening to this music, sipping hot chocolate or some mulled cider (it varies depending on if I am also enjoying some delectable holiday goodie as well).  Perhaps, if my thoughts are feeling particularly extravagant, I can catch faint glimpses of green and pink in the sky outside as the aurora borealis dances across the firmament because, in my mind, I can have the northern lights if I like.

I think if we’re honest we all have some picture in our minds of what the ideal Christmas looks like and again, if we’re honest, I am not sure every little detail ever really finds its place on the actual day.  Some recipe doesn’t come out just right, a gift doesn’t fit in the right way or some random Aunt thought of the same one you did so there is a duplicate.  No matter how wonderful our holiday is, we often don’t see it.  Take my holiday for instance.  Right now we are going through a bit of a warm spell. I cannot stand a warm Christmas. I have no idea how you people in the Southern Hemisphere do it singing songs of sleigh rides and wintery joy whilst it being summer. I would have no choice but to change the date. I couldn’t stomach it.  So yes, I am a bit perturbed at the weather not cooperating.  Also, though in my mind snow is required for the holiday, I live in the American South so, I can count on one hand with probably 4ish fingers leftover the times I have gotten snow on Christmas. Does it ruin the holiday for it to be shades of tan and brown rather than white? No, of course not but that image in my head doesn’t get met either. I certainly am nowhere near a northern light unless I shone one in the sky myself but, a girl can dream. 

But, I have whined about all that to say this:  despite the imperfections we all so readily notice, there is so much magic.  We are surrounded by gestures of love and moments of joy. I don’t even mean gifts. It could be making a favorite recipe perhaps passed down by a loved one that when you take a bite or lick a spoon, it taste likes affection and fond memories.  Even those family members we rarely see put in extra effort to come around this time of year.  We do our best to be sure that old acquaintances are not forgot as the song tells.  It’s this time of year, more than any other time we are willing to embrace magic but we overwork ourselves doing so. I beg of you, and myself, let’s not let the effort to reach the ideal allow us to miss out on what will likely be beautiful in spite of us.  It is the most wonderful time of year.  We really need to look around us, try not to focus on the tape that didn’t stick quite right, or the ornament that has fallen off the tree but let us sit and look and allow ourselves to be very literally full of wonder.  It’s right there in front of us every day but now it is covered in tinsel and lights and just wants us to see it.  It could be as magnificent as a grand manor home draped in ribbons and greenery or it could be as simple as watching the eyes of a child as she puts out cookies for a midnight guest.  It’s right there. Don’t let us be too busy trying to make the enchantment happen.  I know, I want to get everything just so as well.  But the magic is in every moment all around us almost like glitter swirling in the air. It may not be snowy or spotless but it is there and if we can slow ourselves down just for a moment, breathe and take it in, we might just see it is far less the things we get accomplished and far more the way we cherish every single second.  Those seconds will slip away before we know it never to return. But behind every bow and bauble are smiles and laughter.  There is hope and love beyond what we could fathom in the air. And it shines brighter than any northern light.