Dickens’ ‘Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’ had a sole purpose – to show Scrooge how people would react to the news of his death if he continued through life with his selfish, miserly ways. Scrooge took note and amended his behaviour. I don’t blame him, because if Death appeared at my bedside one night in his black, hooded cloak, pointing his skeletal finger, I think I’d be willing to listen!
Joking apart though, it makes me think about the fact that, sometimes, we need to be open to other ideas and be willing to change. It seems that if we only ever do what we’ve always done, we’ll only ever get what we’ve always got. We should try to stretch, to explore and to challenge ourselves, and as a result, celebrate the growth those challenges bring. Every New Year, people make resolutions. They might resolve to do something new, or try to kick an old habit...or whatever. Some might stick with their resolutions, some will break them, and some might never even start. The value here is in the doing though, not in the thinking or saying. So, if you decide to do something differently, try to stick with it, and see how life changes.
Dori and I will be challenging ourselves this year (see tomorrow’s post), and we’ll do our best to stick to those challenges, documenting them along the way. You are most welcome to share your challenges with us in the comments section, if you’d like to. Perhaps, like a problem, a challenge shared is a challenge halved?
LABYRINTHUS XXI
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - Dori
In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in the "Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come", Scrooge is faced with seeing what it would be like if he didn't change his ways and live a different life. Change is inevitable and sometimes it's just what we need in our lives.
As we're coming to the end of 2013, I can't help but think about the changes that I want to perhaps make in my own life. I think it's in our makeup to see if we can improve in some way and for me it often comes when we start a new year.
I've done a lot in 2013, but there is always more to pursue in the new year ahead. So it will be interesting to see how it all goes as we go forward. I'm always excited to see what's ahead, but I try to keep myself in the present moment as much as I can.
Here's to change and what it may or may not bring in 2014!
As we're coming to the end of 2013, I can't help but think about the changes that I want to perhaps make in my own life. I think it's in our makeup to see if we can improve in some way and for me it often comes when we start a new year.
I've done a lot in 2013, but there is always more to pursue in the new year ahead. So it will be interesting to see how it all goes as we go forward. I'm always excited to see what's ahead, but I try to keep myself in the present moment as much as I can.
Here's to change and what it may or may not bring in 2014!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Merry Christmas
SEASON'S GREETINGS
FROM
VAL AND DORI
Video courtesy of The Piano Guys ~ "Angels We Have Heard on High"
Monday, 23 December 2013
Sanctuary - Self
This Christmas season, I’m going to relax. For the first time in four years, I don’t have to think about study or essay deadlines, and it’s going to be great. I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my family and friends, catching up on films, TV and reading, and designing some new knitwear pieces. I’m going to allow myself the time to appreciate how lucky I am.
I am fully aware, though, that the shadow side of Christmas can mean financial and family stress, and can amplify feelings of loss or loneliness for some. I know something of loss because early this year my father passed away, having been in the grip of worsening dementia and heart disease for some time. We lost him years ago, really – he became a lonely, and confused soul, and I miss him. So, it means that this year there will be an empty chair at my mother’s house... Something we’ve not dealt with before, and it’s heartbreaking, despite the festivity.
Every year at Christmas, we have a friend come and stay with us who might otherwise be lonely. He’s expected now, almost part of the furniture (in a comfortable way!) and we think of him as part of our family. It feels good to share what you have with someone else, even if you think you don’t have much to share. Company, especially at this time of year, means so much more than material things. Another friend of mine, who would be completely alone, has been invited to share Christmas with some kind friends of hers, which is wonderful. During the last century, Norman MacEwan said, ‘Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ Perhaps you have something you can share with someone this Christmas...
I am fully aware, though, that the shadow side of Christmas can mean financial and family stress, and can amplify feelings of loss or loneliness for some. I know something of loss because early this year my father passed away, having been in the grip of worsening dementia and heart disease for some time. We lost him years ago, really – he became a lonely, and confused soul, and I miss him. So, it means that this year there will be an empty chair at my mother’s house... Something we’ve not dealt with before, and it’s heartbreaking, despite the festivity.
Every year at Christmas, we have a friend come and stay with us who might otherwise be lonely. He’s expected now, almost part of the furniture (in a comfortable way!) and we think of him as part of our family. It feels good to share what you have with someone else, even if you think you don’t have much to share. Company, especially at this time of year, means so much more than material things. Another friend of mine, who would be completely alone, has been invited to share Christmas with some kind friends of hers, which is wonderful. During the last century, Norman MacEwan said, ‘Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ Perhaps you have something you can share with someone this Christmas...
Sanctuary - Health
Christmas can be a time of indulgence, when we can ‘eat, drink and be merry’, but we can be left feeling pretty grotty through over-eating and drinking. Remember Dawn French in one of the Christmas episodes of The Vicar of Dibley? You know, the one where she visits everyone from the parish council for Christmas lunch because she hasn’t the heart to turn them down? Mmmm... I love that episode, but I don’t want to feel remotely like that after my Christmas lunch (and I did last year), so here’s my plan for a slightly healthier version (note the slightly!), and of course, cutting down those portion sizes matters here too.
Roast potatoes and parsnips: I’ll use King Edward potatoes, parboiled (with the parsnips) with a pinch of salt and then roasted in olive oil with some freshly ground black pepper. For the last couple of years I’ve experimented with duck and goose fat, with sunflower oil and with lard, but for me, olive oil works best because the ‘roasties’ develop a fabulous crunch and golden brown colour, and they are a little healthier!
I’ll have plenty of steamed veg – carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and mashed swede – as well as the seasonal spiced red cabbage, and the Brussels sprouts cooked with diced pancetta (okay – I know, that bit’s not particularly ‘healthy’, but it’s delicious).
I won’t be eating any turkey skin, but I will have some stuffing and a bacon-wrapped sausage (again, not healthy, but lovely!).
If there’s room for dessert, I’ll either have a small piece of Christmas pudding (made the evening before so it’s lighter than the traditional ones) or homemade cranberry steamed pudding, or even a cranberry and apple pie with custard or cream...
Mmmm... Doesn’t sound that ‘healthy’ really, does it? So, after an hour or so, a walk in the woods with the dogs will sort everything out!
Roast potatoes and parsnips: I’ll use King Edward potatoes, parboiled (with the parsnips) with a pinch of salt and then roasted in olive oil with some freshly ground black pepper. For the last couple of years I’ve experimented with duck and goose fat, with sunflower oil and with lard, but for me, olive oil works best because the ‘roasties’ develop a fabulous crunch and golden brown colour, and they are a little healthier!
I’ll have plenty of steamed veg – carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and mashed swede – as well as the seasonal spiced red cabbage, and the Brussels sprouts cooked with diced pancetta (okay – I know, that bit’s not particularly ‘healthy’, but it’s delicious).
I won’t be eating any turkey skin, but I will have some stuffing and a bacon-wrapped sausage (again, not healthy, but lovely!).
If there’s room for dessert, I’ll either have a small piece of Christmas pudding (made the evening before so it’s lighter than the traditional ones) or homemade cranberry steamed pudding, or even a cranberry and apple pie with custard or cream...
Mmmm... Doesn’t sound that ‘healthy’ really, does it? So, after an hour or so, a walk in the woods with the dogs will sort everything out!
Sanctuary - Across the Miles
I'm very far away from home. I live here in England and this is home but I have another home too back in the States. I'm a long way from there and at this time of the year I know I'm not alone in feeling a little sad because I can't see my loved ones back home. This is the plight of expats like myself, but it's also similar to those who find themselves unable to get home for whatever reason.
I received a Christmas card from my brother the other day and it made me feel that love across the miles. I don't get to see my brother much at all right now. I see my sisters on Skype fairly regularly, but it's been a long while since I've seen my brother. So it was so nice to see his familiar handwriting on the envelope. It was good for the soul.
Christmas is an amazing time of the year! Magic seems to happen and sometimes magic is simply having a wonderful little surprise like a card from a big brother....Merry Christmas!
I received a Christmas card from my brother the other day and it made me feel that love across the miles. I don't get to see my brother much at all right now. I see my sisters on Skype fairly regularly, but it's been a long while since I've seen my brother. So it was so nice to see his familiar handwriting on the envelope. It was good for the soul.
Christmas is an amazing time of the year! Magic seems to happen and sometimes magic is simply having a wonderful little surprise like a card from a big brother....Merry Christmas!
Saturday, 21 December 2013
The Ghost of Christmas Present - Val
It’s pretty unbelievable how quickly Christmas has come around this year. Does that sound familiar to you? Yes? I know – I seem to find myself saying something similar every year. But, this year in particular, Christmas has turned up on my doorstep like an unexpected visitor with a huge suitcase, a massive smile, and oh crikey, with wide open arms that are ready to suck me into his enormous embrace. I’m embarrassed, but I force a smile, walk willingly into his arms and hug him back, wishing I was more organised and I’d made the time to tidy the house yesterday!
Oh well... There’s no such thing as perfection, I suppose. Perhaps, if I am a good enough hostess, he won’t notice the dusty corners and the dog hairs I can never seem to get out of the carpet. He’ll just enjoy the company and the fun, laughter and love that fill this house when we’re all together. I wonder if he plays Poker?
Oh well... There’s no such thing as perfection, I suppose. Perhaps, if I am a good enough hostess, he won’t notice the dusty corners and the dog hairs I can never seem to get out of the carpet. He’ll just enjoy the company and the fun, laughter and love that fill this house when we’re all together. I wonder if he plays Poker?
The Ghost of Christmas Present - Dori
Well another Christmas Day is quickly approaching and it's unbelievable that it's here once again so quickly. Time does indeed fly. Where does the time go? A lot of people that I know are like me...they aren't quite 'ready' for Christmas, but no matter what we all do it's coming anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for it to come, but I just wish that I was more prepared. But then you can't prepare for everything. Sometimes you just have to let go and go with the flow. So that's what I'm gonna do this Christmas. The day will come and I'll just let it wash over me.
Friday, 20 December 2013
The Ghost of Christmas Past - Dori
As an adult, I have memories of good Christmases also, most especially these past few years since I've lived here in England away from what I knew before. I've had to make new traditions in my own home and it's been a joy to create new memories.
The Ghost of Christmas Past - Val
Take a moment to think back to your childhood. What did Christmas mean to you? What do you remember most about it?
For me it was magical; a time ripe with excitement from the build up to Christmas at school with carol services, card making for mums and dads and the usual primary school Christmas play where we’d all parade across the stage wearing tea towels in one form or another. Great times! I remember the sheer joy of putting up the Christmas decorations at home and dressing the tree with streams of tinsel and glitzy baubles of all shapes and sizes. There were always foil-wrapped chocolates to hang on random branches, and when you finally got to pull one off to eat, tiny strips of tree foliage would come with it (It’s funny what you remember!). Gradually, over the years, the tree got balder and balder. Then there were the paper chains Mum or Dad would buy – thin strips of assorted brightly coloured paper with glued ends you’d lick and stick, one chain through the other, into great multi-coloured snakes we could suspend from the ceiling. I absolutely loved them, despite the gluey taste, and living in London, we’d always take a walk along Oxford Street to look at the Christmas window displays in the big department stores, which to me were fabulous. All of this, and then the anticipation of what Father Christmas might bring...
For me it was magical; a time ripe with excitement from the build up to Christmas at school with carol services, card making for mums and dads and the usual primary school Christmas play where we’d all parade across the stage wearing tea towels in one form or another. Great times! I remember the sheer joy of putting up the Christmas decorations at home and dressing the tree with streams of tinsel and glitzy baubles of all shapes and sizes. There were always foil-wrapped chocolates to hang on random branches, and when you finally got to pull one off to eat, tiny strips of tree foliage would come with it (It’s funny what you remember!). Gradually, over the years, the tree got balder and balder. Then there were the paper chains Mum or Dad would buy – thin strips of assorted brightly coloured paper with glued ends you’d lick and stick, one chain through the other, into great multi-coloured snakes we could suspend from the ceiling. I absolutely loved them, despite the gluey taste, and living in London, we’d always take a walk along Oxford Street to look at the Christmas window displays in the big department stores, which to me were fabulous. All of this, and then the anticipation of what Father Christmas might bring...
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