Its Christmas eve, on what has been maybe the toughest year in most of our memories for a long time.
Christmas Eve was always my favorite day of the festive season. The magic of Christmas still just a few hours away; excited children eager to get to bed for once; mulled wine; open fires and knowing you have a few precious days with your loved ones – but this year I have to admit I haven’t even put up a tree, or a fairy light.
My first instinct was not to write an article for Christmas. Life has been a real challenge for us of late, and the last thing I feel is festive. I’d prefer to crawl under my shell and pretend it’s not Christmas Eve. But I know I’m not alone in this feeling – far from it. The feeling of festive cheer is not what is usually is for any of us.
Christmas is often a focal point of our year. We spend days, weeks even preparing for it, and it feels like a wonderful break from the bleakness of winter and dark evenings. The usual winter blues is lifted for a few wonderful days as we embrace the Christmas sparkle and forget our worries as we party with friends and celebrate with our loved ones. But this year many of us are not with our nearest and dearest – separated, by countries, regions, tiers and bubbles. Many have no money to treat themselves or those they love, and Christmas just becomes a stark reminder of how we are not allowed to do those things that normally warm our hearts and lift us at this time of year.
So why did I change my mind and decide to write today? Because I know in my heart that I’m not alone, in my feelings, and that so many others are struggling today, even more so because its Christmas. And I know that the only thing that will take us through these days is love. Love is with us everyday whether we feel it or not, and when we remember its presence in our lives it fills us with light and peace. We have angels around us all the time – and when I say angels I am not talking of the ethereal angels, but in the friends and family we have in our lives. Even when we cannot be with our loved ones it doesn’t stop them loving us, or us them. There are no restrictions, conditions, rules or boundaries to love. No-one can make love stay in one town, or only go out at certain times. We may not be able to travel to be with those we love, but our love still can. So whether you send gifts and cards, connect on FaceTime or zoom, or simply think of your dear ones with an open heart and send them love, nothing can stop that connection. Christmas is a time of goodwill, peace and love – so make sure you send love, and keep your heart open to receive love, because when you do, it will heal you, lift you and bring back the sparkle to your life that this year has tried so hard to extinguish. Let’s make this Christmas all about love, and let it flow freely around the world from heart to heart.
This Christmas is different – we cannot escape that, but we can embrace that difference and choose to make it special. Not in the ways we are perhaps used to, but in the way we feel and think. Let’s find our sparkle within, and let it radiate warming the hearts of those we love and find the magic of Christmas.
I wish you clarity and calm, happiness and health but most of all LOVE.
Merry Christmas.
LORRAINE EREIRA 