It’s official, Slow Christmas has returned! Oh friends, I’ve missed you so. I’ve had visions of sugar plums dancing in my head since the hottest day in July, and now the time has finally arrived.
Fall is at its peak around here. I was in the Shenandoah Valley recently, where the evergreens are standing behind flaming red maples, waiting for their turn. When I took an early morning walk, the deer were still chew lazily on grass, their quest for food not yet a thing of desperation. Back in the city on my way to work, there are pumpkins in front of every other house: fall observed here, they seem to say.
This will sound like heresy coming from a Christmas partisan like me, but fall is my favorite season. And it’s not just because Christmas is around the corner. There’s a bittersweet mood about fall, even when the trees are at the height of color. Change is in the air, or maybe it’s just frost, but either way you know something is coming. I think it’s what the early pagans must have felt when they celebrated solstice. People don’t need one another in the summer, but when winter is coming, we instinctively band together. The darkest days of the year give you permission to cuddle up inside. And when you’re outside, your heart quickens at the sight of a brightly lit window. For a lot of us, Christmas is that brightly lit window.
What are your Slow Christmas resolutions this year? I’ll share a couple of mine: I confess that my Christmas wasn’t always terribly slow last year. I’m resolved to take it down a notch this year. Another one: be more honest and generous with my family. And last but not least, I plan to bring you everything you asked for Slow Christmas this year: more stories, more recipes, more guest posts, and more gift ideas.
I’m also asking for your help. You are what made Slow Christmas great, and I want to hear from you. Share your ideas, your inspirations, your frustrations, your decorations, your perspirations… Whatever’s on your mind, we’ll work it out. If you’re yearning to make this Christmas season less perfect and more fun, tell us what you’re crossing off your list. After all, Slow Christmas is knowing with satisfaction that Christmas didn’t just pass you by: this year, you lived every moment of it. Slow Christmas isn’t just a bunch of recipes and crafts, Slow Christmas is a state of mind.
Now, that said, if you want to learn how to make doughnuts, you may want to stick around…
So glad to hear from Slow Christmas again! Last year, this blog helped clarify my family’s wants and needs and changes. Thank you for helping me ease into thinking about the next holiday season…including doughnuts!
[...] I delayed because Christmas shouldn’t start until after Thanksgiving anyway, but you know I don’t believe that. The truth is, I’m trying to practice the slow life that I preach, and finding it hard this [...]