"Hasta la vista, Christmas Tree"

I have always loved Christmas trees.

And while this will sound obsessive, I must confess I have a few in my garage. 3 now in fact of varying sizes and styles. I might need to enroll in a “Xmas Trees Anonymous” class if I keep this up.

I love hunting for them, I love putting them up, I love making all my ornaments and décor work together in nice compositions. I don’t however, enjoy packing them up, or tossing them out if they are real. It depresses me.

I know it’s mid January, and I am fully aware that I am a tad---ok, I am grossly late in doing this. But in my defense, I was out of town immediately after New Year’s. And the other version of the truth? I get deeply emotional about it.
I know it will take a full year again, and 3 seasons before I can unwrap them. Seasons of unknowns, of highs and lows... of a life imperfect and difficult most of the time.

Packing the tinsel away marks the beginning of facing life in its most real and often dreary terms. With Christmas and New Year’s, we get a break from the hardships of our lives if only for a few weeks.

This reminds me of a lesson I keep having to relearn---the necessity of "letting go".

Even without the glitz of the lights, glitter and foil wrappings, I know that the real spirit of Christmas should stay with us all year long. That's what I learned from my Parish priest. Another way of looking at it is, by packing away these things that we love and letting them go, we are actually opening ourselves up to the contrast of the joys of unwrapping them once again, and experiencing the intense pleasure of enjoying them. Let’s face it, haven’t we all seen Christmas lights that were hung all year long, and isn’t it a much sadder sight to see? Dust have collected. Fading has taken over the once colorful and cheerful decoration. The absence of novelty has worn them out.
By letting go, and understanding that not all of life can possibly remain a series of highs all the time, we are able to truly live life. How high is the happiness, if not for lows of the sad?

2010 is here and life awaits. I have to hustle.