Christmas in our Hearts | Catherine Viel

By Catherine Viel, December 18, 2022

(Golden Age of Gaia)

December 17, 2022

It’s Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen like you see on the Christmas cards
But we’ve got a lot of Christmas in our hearts
~Barry De Vorzon and Michael Towers, It’s Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara



For decades, I’ve struggled to dredge up a modicum of Christmas cheer every year. This year, I’m not trying at all. The nagging inner voice has faded away.

Instead, so gently I scarcely noticed it, the desire came upon me to do a little here, a little there. I ferreted out boxes of Christmas decorations from rarely used cupboards, where they had lain untouched for years.

One by one, I pulled out the boxes, opened the lids, and lifted out the ornaments and keepsakes, smiling at the ceramic angel choir my godmother made decades ago. I set the Snow Village mission on the coffee table, placed the gilded pinecones into crystal bowls, arranged red candles in brass holders. This feels as foreign as visiting a new country, and also familiar, something remembered, never forgotten.

*****



There’s nothing miraculous about this. Whatever else is going on in the world, millions of people make the annual commitment to spiff up their homes with Christmas glitter and homely vintage decorations.

The only miracle is that this is me doing these things, and not because I feel like I should. I want to pretty up the house, plan a nice meal, go driving at dusk to look at the Christmas lights of generous neighbors who donate their electricity to make things bright. The last time I felt such uncomplicated pleasure during the holidays was when I visited my best friend in Connecticut over four decades ago. There’s no snow here, but as Barry De Vorzon noted, Santa Barbarans don’t need snow to have a whole lot of Christmas in our hearts.

*****



We’re not giving a party or having a crowd for dinner. We continue living our quiet lives. In the past, I’ve always felt defeated at the amount of work “doing the season“ entailed, particularly when the results of all the fuss and bother would only be seen by two people.

It occurs to me now that the “why bother, it’s just for us“ mindset is an insidious extension of deeply ingrained “I’m not worth it“ programming.

If an element of that programming has dissolved and allowed a heretofore unsuspected delight in finding silly decorations and wrapping packages just so, I rejoice, I rejoice, I rejoice.



Listen to It’s Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara here:

https://tinyurl.com/322sktwa