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Joyeux Noël et/ou Joyeuses Fêtes !
Freshly baked Grasmere gingerbread to nibble on, holiday tunes to listen to and a quiet December 25th to savor with Norman and Nelle at home here in Bend at Le Papillon. Now that is my kind of Christmas Day. 🙂
To experience all of the seasonal gifts of the holidays is to leave our hearts open while setting aside expectations. Over the years, I have enjoyed Christmas in many different ways, with different people and in different places, so what makes this Christmas a special one in my own life journey is being able to bravely savor it in a way that nourishes both me and the community and people I love.
When we have the opportunity to have a special holiday that seems to hit all the right notes, we can never know if such an occasion will happen again, so knowing how to deeply savor becomes a skill we can be grateful to have, for we will always carry these beautiful memories with us.
For me, I am savoring Norman waking up to his stocking stuffed with gifts from Santa for the 15th time, and I extend gratitude to be able to have this moment with him alongside Nelle, who has been looking at her stocking for weeks eagerly curious to know what she can play with come Christmas morning.
More than anything, Christmas is a practice in savoring, and when we know how this skill works, we see our special moments such as the holidays appear seemingly in technicolor. Each snowflake that falls is miraculous. Each bite of the Crown Roast exquisite, and each smile of surprise a treasure. Not to wish for more, but to savor and appreciate what is, carrying that joy with us into the rest of our days.
After all, the holiday season encompasses far more than just one day, but rather weeks of festive cheer and giddiness for this once-a-year occasion that engulfs so much of the world in a “conspiracy of love” as American author Hamilton Wright Mabie coined. For myself, this year’s holidays have included sharing time with neighbors and friends for delicious gatherings, donning my ‘Santa hat’ and delivering baked goods, decorating the house, mailing holiday cards and gifts to friends and loved ones living afar and taking the pups on their annual Christmas stocking shopping trip to their favorite pet store, concluding with a quiet Christmas Day. The latter is a gift I gave myself. For me, and again, each of us will treasure different ways of celebrating, quiet is treasured and being able to savor having a warm cozy home shared with companions I adore with special, celebratory meals to devour after an outing amongst Mother Nature, this for me, is to feel I have hit the jackpot.
The holidays are less about one particular day and more about the way we choose to live every day of our lives. Yes, sometimes our life journey can be challenging and trying, but such momentary unwanted occasions only provide the opportunity to savor all the more the life we have consciously chosen to live every single day.
It has been my experience that the ‘big’ dates on the calendar, dates acknowledged by an entire culture, country or community, such occasions provide a momentary reflection of how our everyday lives are actually going. If our everydays are harried, our holidays will be exhausting. If we have been brave in carving out a life that sings, we will have bravely designed a holiday that we will love even if it is new or different from others or past holidays or traditions. If we feel alone in our daily life, we will still feel alone in a sea of family and friends who gather together. And if we are loving, our choices of how we engage and give will be loving as well. The beautiful aha we discover after learning how to truly savor, exercising bravery paired with being loving is that every holiday can be one we hold fondly in our memory upon its concluding no matter how different they might appear to an onlooker.
If we have been brave enough to cultivate a life that we love living in our everydays, then our holidays, our special days, will be a treat to savor as well, because the same ‘rules’ apply, just multiplied. And the outside world need not approve because when we tap into what we need, what we can give and what fills us with joy, we have found both peace within and extend that peace outward toward others as we acknowledge each person will celebrate in their own way, and undoubtedly, no two ways will be exactly alike.
On this day that is Christmas and this year it also the beginning of Hanukah, may your holidays be full of simple, small, large and grand moments to savor and treasure. From Norman, Nelle and I here in Bend, Oregon, at Le Papillon, Joyeuses Fêtes and thank you for stopping by TSLL.
My own living “gingerbread girl” in pup form, Nelle, has asked that we jaunt up to the mountain to play in the snow today, so I will definitely be obliging her wish. 🙂
Tomorrow welcomes the start of postings, 10 posts in all!, beginning with TSLL’s Favorite Books of 2024. Be sure to stop by each day through until the end of the year to see all of the favorite posts in nine different categories shared over the past twelve months. À demain !
~Learn more about TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass.
Happy holidays to you and the pups!
Dear Shannon,
thank you very much for your great post. It encourages us spending our holiday season as we wish und what is working for each of us.
I wish you und your lovely pets a wonderful day. Enjoy it!
Best wishes from Germany!
It was so lovely to start the day with your beautiful words that capture the spirit of this Holiday Season.
Your picture of Nelle is beyond precious. Have a wonderful day and pratique ton français.
Happy Holidays to you all! And here’s to a peaceful Twixmas! (My favourite time of year ☺️)
Joyeux Noël, Shannon! Thank you for your surprise Christmas gift of a wonderfully nourishing post! Your words are appreciated and so very timely! Merci 🙂 I recently visited a harried home and am so grateful for the calm, quiet and peace I have carved out for myself. Enjoy romping in the snow!
Merry Christmas Shannon!
Thank you for sharing bits of life with us. ❤️🎄❤️
Thanks for the reminder that each of us celebrates in our own way. And can I just add? Your tree looks gorgeous! Happy Holidays, Shannon and all.
Laurie
Joyeux Noël Shannon, Norman & Nelle! Such a meaningful post to wake up to on Christmas morning. Three days ago marked a year of following you & my Top Tier Membership. This past year I have collected all 3 of your books & signed up & began the Contentment Masterclass which I am still working through to truly savor each lesson. On Christmas day I wanted to pass along to you Shannon what an incredibly positive influence you have been on my life this past year, one which has been quite challenging. Yet your sharing of working towards contentment, small luxuries, getting to truly know ourselves and mastering our own mind & emotions has been invaluable in getting me through. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you do. I hope to be much more active in the group chats in 2025. Merry Christmas!
Hi Leda- I just wanted to say how much I loved your message to Shannon- I feel the same way about her work and you put it so well! Thanks for sharing.
Aww thank you Lotte! That means a lot – I so enjoy this positive community! Happy New Year to you
What a beautiful post to read this morning, tucked in on my couch with a cup of coffee and my dogs snoozing around me. All too soon, though, I will be headed out to spend some time with my family. Each year I become more courageous in spending my holidays in ways that delight me. “The holidays are less about one particular day and more about the way we choose to live every day of our lives.” This quote is going on my vision board for 2025!
Merry Christmas Shannon, Norm, and Nell!
Dear Kirsten,
I wish you the strength and courage spending the holidays on your own terms. It is important to do what feels good inside.
Happy holidays 🎄
Merry Christmas Shannon and thank you for sharing these wonderful words. I hope that you and the pups enjoy this special day!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well! Thank you for your lovely post and reminder to Savor. This season has been an unexpected opportunity to slow down and enjoy my holiday. And makes me think I will incorporate the “un-busy” mindset moving forward.
Merry Christmas Shannon!🎄
A very happy Christmas to you all.
What a Christmas surprise to wake up to a TSLL post!
As our festivities were held yesterday so the kids can spend the day with their little unit, I’m savoring a cafe in bed whilst Classic FM plays beautiful holiday music in the background and Abigail snoozes at my feet.
Like many of you, I have come to look forward to these quiet Christmas mornings. Other than making the traditional Eggs Benedict and Mimosas for brunch and visiting the Grands a little later (still in my pjs) to see the goodies delivered by Santa, I will enjoy an easy day of listening to the King’s annual speech and catching up on Britmas.
Wishing you all the happiest of holidays and a very merry New Year!
~Michelle
Happy Christmas and much blessings for the week between the years, for you and the pups. Nell is so pretty in that picture.
Breakfast casserole is in the cooker, mimosas ready to make and cinnamon rolls to be warmed up. My “kids” are 22, 19 and 17. No Santa these days. Just time to spend together, eat, rest, relax and enjoy simple pleasures. Saving the call the midwife Christmas special for later today. Happy Christmas, one and all.
Happy holidays ! I am looking forward to savor each posts with a cuppa.
Indeed, the joys, feeling of contentment, and gratitude absolutely multiply during this special time. To Shannon, Norman, Nelle, and all fellow TSLLers, I wish you much joy, peace and many delights as we wrap up this year and move forward into the new one. Happy Holidays everyone!🥂💕
Merry Christmas Shannon, Norman and Nelle. I hope some of your jaunt up the mountain today with Nelle was captured on video. I love your outings with the boys. Take care!
Merry Christmas, Shannon! Hubs and I, and our grandson and his girlfriend just got back from a three mile walk around a beautiful and peaceful lake. A pair of swans gifted us with their beauty and grace. Your post speaks to how we enjoy our special holidays and the traditions we like to maintain. In a few hours the rest of the clan will arrive and there will be lots of food laughter, stories to share, and board games to play. Savor the simple joys of this special day. Shannon your tree is beautiful! Xo Karen
Dear Shannon and TSLL community – what a lovely post and such meaningful words. I wish everyone a happy, peaceful season and oodles of love from our pets, a hot cuppa, and wonderful books.
Merci et Joyeux Noël, Shannon, Norman & Nelle! 🙂