Recently I spent a couple of different days at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. My first visit was a week and a half before Thanksgiving. The staff at the Arboretum were in the process of decorating inside and out. Inside they were hanging lights and stars, putting up Christmas trees, and preparing to create the large poinsettia tree. Outside they had put up lights and decorations for the their holiday light show. There was still no snow on the ground. It was fun seeing the lights and ornaments and the process of decorating.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” — Charles Dickens
My second visit was after all the decorations were in place and a lot of snow had fallen. Hundreds of hours of work must have gone into all of the designing, acquiring and setting up. I thought you might enjoy seeing both the before and after photos of the process of The Arboretum getting
All Dressed Up for Christmas
“As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.” ~ Donald E. Westlake
During the holiday season I love going to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and other festive places to enjoy holiday lights and decorations. But in my home life I have deliberately chosen to simplify and focus on living in ways that bring me joy. Mostly, this does not include decorating the house for the holidays. Making art and connecting with family and friends are so much more important to me than decorating my home with stuff.
Simplifying
This year as in the past few years we have cut back on our Christmas gift giving and decorating. By simplifying what we plan, buy and do I think we make the season more joyful and fulfilling.
We all have SO MUCH STUFF already that it seems silly to buy more. I hate it that the nightly news shows now seem to feel it necessary to report about where to shop for bargains during the holiday season. First of all, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are not news. This belief that our economy must grow, grow, grow is based upon false notions that ignore the fact that resources are finite.So please friends, think about what you buy and from whom you buy it.
“If we want more healing and peace in the world, let us each start with our homes, our relationships, our mindsets, and ourselves.”
― Lighter Living: Declutter. Organize. Simplify.
I was talking with a friend who recently down-sized to a smaller home. She couldn’t believe how much stuff they had, even though they had been winnowing out things for a long time. This is true of all of us. Think about how much stuff you already have in your life and where all of that stuff goes when you no longer want it. Our kids don’t want our stuff. Goodwill has more stuff than it can use. The earth cannot survive much more stuff being discarded.
Creating Stop Doing Lists
Last year I didn’t even put up a Christmas tree and the funny thing is, no one seemed to miss it. This year I am only doing decorating that brings me joy. The lists I am making this season have to do with what I want to do creatively in the next few months, not on what I need to decorate, buy, or bake.
“Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our to-do list.”
― Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives
Take some time to think about your lists for this season. Do the things on your lists bring you joy? Are you making time to savor the season? How much stuff is enough?
May you walk in beauty.
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