Meeting Our Holiday Ghosts

I'm sure everyone who reads this is familiar with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Throughout the night of Christmas Eve he is "haunted" by phantoms of holiday seasons past, present, and future. What was, is, and may be "haunts" us all to an extent, I suppose. But as I was thinking about that story, I paused to think what those spirits might have shown me. Waking up at 5:00 in the morning and waiting impatiently for my parents to wake up at 6:00 so we could go open our gifts. Sneaking peeks at the Christmas tree and how many gifts Santa had brought. A flurry as gifts almost explode out of their wrapping, the blazing fire consuming the remains. I tried to remember a specific year, but I realized that I couldn't really. I don't have specific memories of Christmases past, just thoughts and feelings. As for the present Christmas, I'm trying to keep my expectations lower than usual. Our family has had a trying year and is not financially on its feet yet. I'm sure we have had similar years in the past too, and that's what makes those past Christmases so beautiful in my mind. That despite our situation, we have never not had presents on Christmas. We have always had something waiting for us under the tree and in our stockings. As to Christmases yet to come? I confess no small amount of anxiety over what it will be like. For two years I will be sleeping in a bed that is not my own, the familiarity of my "home town" far behind me. After that, I can hardly imagine what life will be like. Marriage, children, and Christmases of our own. It must be an interesting thing for parents to watch their children grow up like that. So today, think back to a Christmas that you loved. Whether it was as a teenager, the first as a couple, the first with a child, or just memorable. Think of what your own Holiday Ghosts might show you of your past, present, and future.

Fate, Karma, and Luck: Fortune's Trinity

Because of a spur-of-the-moment decision, I got a puppy this past week. It got me thinking about many such moments in my past. How have they effected me? And those around me? As children, when we make friends, are those snap judgments? Perhaps its our intuition of those it would be to our advantage to be around. If that is the case, then one could say that friendship is natural selection of a kind. But what about those that aren't chosen? Do they simply live out their lives in inferiority, because of forces beyond their control? Is it luck? In other parts of the world they believe in Karma- that we have reaped what we have sown because of what happened in a past life. Thus we are responsible for our own actions. And what of Fate- the belief that all actions are predisposed? If that is the case, then there is no such thing as spontaneity. Such things are simply actions that were then unforeseeable. So what do you believe? That everything is fated to happen a certain way? That past lives determined who we are? Or do people just get lucky? In any and all cases, we must be aware of the consequences of our actions. If things are fated to happen, lets believe that we were meant to be good people. If past actions defined us, then lets put faith in our predecessors. And if what happens in life is simply the wheel of fortune turning about, then I guess we can do no worse by trying our hardest.

The Elusive Inner Child

I took a moment to think about the beautiful, but short lasting sensations that we encounter throughout our lives. The feel of a cool breeze after a rain storm, the smell of a brand new book on the shelf. They are the what makes our everyday lives meaningful. Without them, our whole lives are an endless sea of gray with only the occasional blip of color. The feeling that accompanies opening the front door in the morning and breathing in the crisp, relatively fresh air and smiling. Or the feeling of confidence and dominion that one gets when you take a curve on the freeway perfectly.We never talk about them, but in reality they make our day every day. Take some time to think back to those childhood days long gone, when you never took anything for granted. When you could sit and watch the yeast rising in the measuring cup, pretending it was a bomb or was going to pour over the sides. Back when dandelions were flowers, not weeds, that you could take home and give to your mother. In essence, rejoice in the little things in life. That is what I think it means to find your "inner child," return to when you could wonder at everyday things.