Holiday Hush

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Man-Sitting-AloneLet me start out by saying, Happy Thanksgiving to all. With the holiday season upon us and the hustle and bustle of it waiting around the corner like a mugger intent on grabbing our wallets, we seldom take time to pause and reflect. How can we, when we have to pick up relatives at the airport, the kids won’t stop arguing over whose turn it is on the game console, the turkey hasn’t quite thawed, the house needs cleaning, our favorite team is down by six points on TV, and we’re bombarded with buy-this-for-Christmas ads?

There’s so much to do! We dive into the holiday season with our hands full of to-do lists and our bank accounts slowly depleting along with our patience and our peace. All because we gotta do this—c’mon it’s the holidays, right?

Yet many of us have other things on our minds—the loss of loved ones or jobs or expectations sadly thwarted. These losses color the holidays a bleak gray. And some homes are so filled with anger, the holidays become a minefield to get through as best as we can.

When we’re at our busiest or our emptiest or saddest, we desperately need a bit of solitude to collect our thoughts, even if we only have a minute between waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven or waiting on line at the grocery store to pay for that can of cranberry sauce. We need the hush to collect ourselves, to take a step back, and just be.

Be what? Thankful? That’s the punch line you’re getting at, isn’t it? Are you thinking that right now? Being thankful is an automatic default due to the season. Many people have lists of the people and things for which they are thankful. I do too. But maybe thankful is not what you have the energy to be right now. So instead, I’m asking you to put aside the obligations, the holiday mask (happy grins all), and the frantic I-have-to-dos just for a moment. Now, take a breath, let it out, and just be. Be whoever you are in this moment. Embrace the hush.

Wishing you a peace-filled holiday. And if you live in an area where Thanksgiving is not celebrated, but you’re gearing up for next month’s holidays, I hope you’ll take a moment of stillness sometime soon.

turkey

Turkey from wallyball.homestead.com. Person alone from for-the-masses.com.

46 thoughts on “Holiday Hush”

  1. A thoughtful post and great suggestion. Hope you find a moment where you can simply “be,” over the Holidays as well. Be well~

  2. A bit of peace and quiet and a time to yourself is so important and we all need reminding about that at times, so thank you Linda. Christmas fever has well and truly struck in the UK and we’ve still got 4 weeks to go. Turkey and cranberry sauce here we come! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. 🙂

    • Thank you, Kate! It’s crazy, isn’t it? Some stores had Christmas decorations up before Halloween. I’ve been getting Christmas ads for well over a month. I’m ready to scream. But I hope your holiday season is stress-free. (I enjoy the cranberry sauce and turkey though. :-D)

  3. What I wouldn’t give for some peace and quiet during these days. It’s strange how chaotic some people get and they go berserk if you don’t share in their spiral into panic. I’ve been through enough holidays to know that something always goes wrong, so there’s no reason getting worked up. Honestly, this is why I say there’s a difference between a holiday and a vacation. Both get you out of work, but only the vacation lets you relax.

    • Well, that’s so true. Our expectations are the barometer. When they’re not met, chaos happens. And family time can be stressful sometimes.

      So true about vacations. I have yet to experienced a relaxed holiday season.

  5. Beautiful, Linda! We can all benefit from a little quiet time. Wishing you and your family a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the christening!

    • I’m sure you do. When I was a kid, I used to wonder why my mother was so irritated when we would get up at 6 a.m. She’d get up at that time just to experience the peace of the day. But then we’d get up and wreck it for her. 😀

  7. It’s a tricky balancing act the holidays isn’t it. I have the opposite problem: living overseas there’s no family around so Christmas (no Thanksgiving for us) can be pretty quiet. Hope you all manage to get those little pockets of peace and quiet, and in the mean time over here we’ll try to re-create some of that hustle and bustle. Maybe we should all do some sort of trade where I give you some of that peace and quiet and you give me some of your chaotic madness. Deal?

    Happy Thanksgiving to those of you that celebrate it, otherwise an early Merry Christmas!

    • Ha ha! You might not want the hustle of this upcoming holiday. I’m busy 24/7 until Tuesday! Somehow I’ve gotta work in blogging and drafting my novel. Thanks for the Christmas wishes. Christmas shopping season has begun. 😀

  11. I’ve had my share of tainted, gloomy, terrible holidays. I find that the moments I enjoy the best are the ones I spend on my own, with my thoughts and a cup of hot cocoa.
    Thank you for the reminder to just be and Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

  12. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. I will have a house full of family and my feet glued to the kitchen floor, but it’ll be a blessing. Plus, there’ll be pie!

  14. Great line, “the hustle and bustle of it waiting around the corner like a mugger intent on grabbing our wallets.” I’m looking forward to celebrating Buy Nothing Day on Friday, November 29. I’m spending the day helping a graduating VCFA student put together her PowerPoint for her grad lecture. Oh, yes, and Hanukkah begins on Thanksgiving (actually tonight), so the holiday for some of us is now known as Thanksgivukkah. Happy Thanksgiving, Linda, and everyone else!

  15. Linda, I have been stressing out all day because my turkey has not thawed out yet!!! But, thanks to you, I took a deep breath and am more relaxed. It is what it is and it will all be ok in the end. Ahhhhhh. I wish you a wonderful day tomorrow. I am thankful for our friendship. 🙂

  17. What a lovely idea, Linda. You always have such great advice. I like a little hustle, but only if it’s on my own terms. I avoid Black Friday like the plaque, but two of my kids work in retail and they see the craziness some people get into. Not pretty or calming or even fun. Think I’ll sit back with some hot cocoa tonight and nibble at pie and just take your advice as far as I can.
    Happy Thanksgiving to all and may you each find at least one moment of peace.

    • Thanksgiving was pretty busy. But we managed some downtime, watching a few of those Family channel holiday romance movies. Cheesy fun.

  18. I’m not quite sure how I managed it, but I have had almost an entire week of quiet and solitude– I took a week off work and my boyfriend has been out of town so I’ve just been working on projects at home and writing… it has certainly gotten my head back in line with my priorities and given me a better focus for the upcoming rush and madness… Now if I can just hold onto that when Monday comes 😉

    • I’m glad you had a productive week, Aussa! I’ve just returned from my extremely busy holiday trip. Now it’s time for me to get busy!

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  21. Hello! I am meeting you through the Cootchie Mama! Thanks for this lovely meditation on holiday stillness. You got my day off to a lovely start.

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