These are a few of my favourite (Christmas) things..

Since I keep on humming the classic Sound of Music song to myself, I was already thinking of writing a post about some of my favourite things this Christmas, and then my daily Enneathought suggested that “On Boxing Day, which can be a day of recovery from celebrations, quietly reflect on your blessings. As a Nine, consider the ways you are blessed with being optimistic, good-natured, and creative.” So today I am celebrating the blessings of my life, and the blessings of being me! :-)

Enjoying our newly renovated den with friends who really appreciate it, and who experienced Den #1 enough to know how significant the changes are! My very creative friend Abigail just made us two gorgeous cushions to grace our ruby red sectional sofa, making the lovely room even prettier. And I’ve been lighting candles often in the evenings for a wonderful inviting ambiance. Today’s happy scene: four of us spaced out the sofa with either book (thanks for mine, Joanna!) or ipad or laptop, perhaps snoozing, maybe with blanket and cat on lap... just being. Old friends (length of acquaintance rather than age!) are great for this: we can laugh, remember, get serious, get heated, be silent; everyone naturally mucks in to clear up, cook breakfast, wash up, initiate something to watch or a good conversation, carve the turkey, peel and chop vegetables, make (lots of) coffee... Comfortable.

The pleasure and satisfaction I get from cooking a lovely meal, making the table and house look pretty, and choosing presents for loved ones that I know they will enjoy... coupled with Jeremy’s very real gratitude with how I “make Christmas happen, and do it so well”. :-) After so much thought and planning (and shopping!) these last weeks, I was especially happy that I still have a good sense of what Amélie will love. It's so gratifying to witness her joy and delight. These celebrations definitely are a LOT of work, but they are worth it... Satisfaction.

Starting to read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Amélie on Christmas Day 2011, with snow gently falling outside and the lights of the Christmas tree twinkling in the corner or the room. I absolutely loved reading it to her, and am so looking forward to working our way through the whole series (which my Mum and Dad are sending to her a book at a time) and rediscovering it as an adult; Amélie, too, was evidently already captured by the story and characters. Joy!

My new snugly red robe from Long Tall Sally (a gift from Jeremy), which almost reaches my feet and is incredibly warm, and almost matches my favourite sofa! I‘ve never had a robe this long or beautiful or warm and it makes me happy! I keep on wanting to repeat the brilliant line from Despicable Me (there spoken by the littlest girl about the soft unicorn she really wants): “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!” :-) Fluffiness!

Just enough snow to make things pretty and white and Christmassy, but not so much that travel plans are scuppered or the footpaths by the river hard to negotiate for a late morning stroll. It was beautiful out there today, especially the black of the river against the snowy banks, and all the feathery reflections. By the end of the walk, my legs were like ice blocks, but I felt rejuvenated from my turkey stupor... and entitled to some more overindulgence! Enjoy!

Confessions of a Plant-killer: Part Three (Getting Personal)

If I assert that I am born neither with green fingers nor a black thumb, why might it be that I have chosen to be someone who does not keep plants alive? This is indeed a very troubling question, as I truly don’t wish to be a killer of anything or anyone, and have in fact made many an effort not to be one! I don’t pretend to have the definitive answer to this question – just ponderings that make some sense to me – but I notice something as I rinse the broccoli sprouts morning and evening, and ‘harvest’ some of them to the fridge today; as I take the time every rainless evening, whatever my other pressing plans and commitments, to water the tomato plants thanks to two extra lengths of hose that I finally got around to purchasing last week; and as I keep an eye on the sourdough starter, choosing when to feed it and when to bake with it. What I cannot help but notice is that these actions, which I have found so difficult to maintain in the past, are incredibly small, simple gestures. They take hardly any time, are remarkably uninvolved, and require no labour-intensive procedures. But, for all their simplicity, they demand to be done regularly and with straightforward precision. Perhaps, then, to tend living things, and keep them alive, is to choose a discipline of love supported by routines of care.

This week I came across an interesting discussion of the traditional ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ and the way in which Jesus’ ‘Beatitudes’ confront each of these (it seems that this discussion originally appeared in Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft). The idea that caught my eye was that Sloth (which I have known since working with the Enneagram to be my habitual trap or ‘sin of choice’!) can be defined as a ‘refusal to exert the will towards the good’. Ouch! That’s me in more area than one! For so many years I have excused my serial plant-killing with the avowal that “I didn’t mean to!”, and it’s true that I didn’t try to murder the poor things! But I think I am finally ready to see that my choice not to water or feed or tend still reflects some level of refusal to exert my will towards good and towards life. In other words, it’s not just what I do that matters and that defines me, it is also what I don’t do. Or, expressed in the positive, the little things I do really are significant – for my plants, but also for my relationships and for myself. It is not enough to ‘not kill’ (…or abandon or disparage) these things and these people; love demands that I cast off my tendency towards ease and consequent neglect, and instead exert my will towards the good, by intentionally choosing habitual actions that nurture and bring life.

As I write this, I have one more new thought. This past year I have been coming to know and experience that the Great Love that fuels the universe is not passively benevolent but rather actively loving. There is no sloth in God. Perhaps, then, as I am changed by this Great Love, I will more closely resemble it myself. And hopefully that will mean, among other things, no more dead plants…