…such a lovely thought. Such a lovely concept. Such a lovely song… But what about those who do not have a home? The homeless among us are growing by leaps and bounds and then there are those whose homes have been disrupted by death, divorce or natural disasters.
I have been AWOL from my blog for two months. It has been a hard two months. When I initially decided to start my blog, I chose the name INSIDE OUT INSPIRATION, not only to talk about our physical spaces, but also about our inner space as well… our hearts and souls. This year my soul aches for many reasons. I know I am not alone in that sentiment.
The holidays remind us of loss…
Three years ago, I lost my Dad. He was an amazing man and I miss him so. He taught me so much– though a lot of what I have learned about him was after his death. I was charged with cleaning out the house that had been my childhood home. My Mother was not able, so it became my task that I lovingly accomplished. Talk about a trip down memory lane–both good and bad.
The house was stuffed to the gills, so to say. My Dad was an engineer and he could build or fix anything and he had the tools to prove it. He had become interested in genealogy before it was popular and had binders of his own searches for his bloodline as well as for my Mother’s. Now we have 23 and Me. I kid you not, between the two searches there were at least six linear feet of information. They both were children of The Depression, so everything was saved, “just in case”.
My Mom had her own cause for “lots of stuff”…she was a crafter who could knit, crochet and just make a lot of all sorts of items, from blankets to Christmas ornaments and tissue paper holders. She was prolific in her creations. Every year when my kids were young she would knit them all sweaters for her family Christmas card photo. A lot of work. A lot of supplies as well. She died in May.
Memories can be happy and sad, but we need to embrace both…
My clean out of the house took three months to accomplish. I worked on it 40 to 50 hours a week. Talk about clutter, every closet was stuffed. I had so much stuff to go through and organize. I had to put my hand on every single thing so I could determine what was valuable and what was not. While I found lots of treasures that tore at my heartstrings, I realized how important it is to really determine what items are important to us as we move forward in our lives.
Moving forward means letting go..
I will devote a future blog post to the importance of “letting go” of much of what we hold on to, not only for ourselves, but for those who will be left with the task of figuring out what exactly is or was of value–not only economically, but emotionally as well. The elegance of enough is my new mantra.
A year ago I lost my dear dog Bear. He was THE MOST AMAZING creature. He exuded pure love and chill. He was large and a rescue we were able to take in 13 years prior to his death. People would stop and roll down their windows and yell “What a beautiful dog!” I enjoyed him every day I had the privilege of having him in my life… two weeks before Christmas his quality of life was no longer good . I realized it was time to let him go… He was so lovely….INSIDE AND OUT.
We can’t avoid our emotions during the holidays,
because they can be emotional minefields for many of us. So many of us suffer from holiday depression. Unfortunately, we all don’t get to live in the idealized images that are paraded across our social media sites as well as television…and this year, in particular. 2020. Holy S#it shinola…
I hope you have a good friend or friends who will listen to you. We are all encouraged to “put on a happy face” and pretend that we are ok when we are anything but. So many don’t want to admit they are struggling. We have all been programmed to deny our pain. Having someone who will listen is so wonderful. We don’t need to be fixed…we just need to be heard. Being listened to goes a long way towards our healing. We aren’t broken. We are just wounded. The walking wounded. We are all around you.
I wish you peace as we all move through this holiday season. Peace with those personal demons. Peace with your family. Peace on Earth.
Take care of yourself,
and honor that inner child who just longs to feel loved. Take a walk and look at Christmas decorations. Enjoy a hot cocoa, watch some fun Christmas themed movies. I have already watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”… I am getting proficient at knowing all of the lines… Chevy Chase and his wish for an old fashion family Christmas shares the screen with a cast of characters who reflect us all.
Next up will be Hook. Like Peter Banning says as he rediscovers his inner child who is Peter Pan… “Find you happy thoughts”. His happy thoughts ended up being his children…I can relate.
I , myself, want to be like Gramma Wendy…she took in all of the orphans. I know there are so many of us who may feel that we are all alone. We need to remember we are all part of the collective human experience. We all have more in common than we realize.
Remember gratitude…
Be grateful if you have a job, a roof over your head and you are healthy and can feed yourself and your family. Be grateful for your family even if you will not get to spend time with them this season. Keeping that attitude of gratitude is mandatory.
Although a hug might be out of the realm of possibility for many with COVID this year, reach out and call someone who might be lonely. Shoot them a text. Let’s all count our blessings. We are all in this together.
I wish you Peace!
I wish you love,
Eileen