Sheils Writes

So, what is holiday spirit?  It’s a feeling I believe.  I can’t remember the last time I truly felt the spirit of any holiday – the 2 big ones are coming up and I’m sitting here stumped on what to buy people and that seems like I’m missing the point, yet again.  Many years ago, in the 1970s my Dad would take us 3 girls to the 5 & 10 store, I believe it was called Greens  – he had each of us pick out something for Mom.  It wasn’t about the cost of the item, it was just that we picked it out for her – sorry about the sponges Mom, but I vaguely remember one of us getting you a pretty wreath pin.  Regardless of what we gave you, you were grateful and appreciative – if I could bottle up your reaction to how that made me feel way back then, I might start to slowly build spirit back into my holiday.

Then there were years in middle school that we exchanged with our friends, real simple gifts, yes, the lifesaver book would usually land on my desk in one of my classrooms, the clip on koala bear sometimes found its way to my home, ribbon barrettes, toe socks, candy cane pen, stickers, cards from friends with just their signature, Peanuts come to mind and Ziggy.  I got on the bus with a little bag full of treats, filled with excitement that we were about to be on Christmas break.  Lazy days, no alarm, family and friends coming over at random times with cookies and gossip.  If I could bottle that feeling, I might just find some more holiday spirit start circling my orbit.

Fast forward to my first serious boyfriend, who is now my husband – seeing him come over with Snuggle the Bear and Scoundrel perfume by Revlon, yeah, it’s a gift, it’s materialistic, but it was just a small something and my eyes lit up, my heart felt a warmth inside.  This was a boy and he was giving me a real Christmas present.  I think I need to recapture that moment in time and put that in a bottle of spirit to carry around with me also.

So my spirit toolbox is starting to come alive – I have a grateful, appreciative Mom in there, I have a Dad who wanted to see his wife smile and his daughters feel good that they were part of making that happen. I have friends from middle school in there and now I have a boyfriend in there.  Guess what eventually goes in there?  An engagement, and now 2 children of my own who had many elementary school holiday boutiques where they got to buy reasonably priced gifts for their Mom & Dad – every year my husband got a small toolbox, every year he smiled so big when he received that gift.  I received several small ceramic heart shaped jewelry boxes with “Mom” proudly written on the top.  I’m hoping my children felt as good as I know I did when I was able to give my Mom her gift that I chose specially for her.  Kids, if you are reading this, guess what?  I was really happy!  That feeling is now also going in my spirit bank as well.

Years are suddenly passing more quickly.  I want to cherish and savor these holidays as they go by in a blink.  I don’t want to rush all over and go broke, watch December turn quickly into January and sit there with a pile of credit card debt and no warmth in my heart.  I am making a promise to myself this upcoming holiday to savor the season.  Find spirit in the simplest of moments.  If I get a little lost along the way, I’ll cue up some Nat King Cole, make a hot cocoa, call a friend for some good old fashioned gossip and bake a batch of some yummy cookies so I can smell that familiar smell from many years ago in my childhood home on Christmas break week.

Who knows, maybe my husband just might walk through the door with a teddy bear and a perfume from CVS, well, because I think that’d be pretty nostalgic and it just might be time to pick up some lifesaver books for my coworkers!

May your holiday season be simple, peaceful, a little crazy, but most of all my wish for you is that you can build your own spirit toolbox of your best memories that fill your heart with warmth and a glow that makes it one for the memories for years to come.