How to do Christmas and Other Winter Holidays

The Holidays are here! Which one to celebrate? I choose them all! I like celebrations. They remind me that we are special, that it isn't all work and eat and sleep and children. Work becomes eager preparation. Eating becomes feasting. Sleep becomes anticipation, and children light up with looks of wonder and joy and laughter on their faces.

If you haven't done this and want to, or if the season has become something less than inspirational, then I will provide you with ways of transforming this season into what is has most often been: a celebration of the coming of light to the season of darkness.

The darkness, of course, comes from the days getting shorter, Here in New England, for some reason, it seems particularly dark. It could be that there are more rural areas, but I have a friend who even in streetlights takes little comfort. She puts up holiday lights and lights her menorah, and peace comes to her as she remembers the Hanukkah miracle.

I do not know a winter holiday that does not come with the lighting of candles or a fire. The lights we put up are representative of those fires. So that is where we begin: light.

It could be as simple as putting a brighter bulb in your lamplight and as sophisticated as buying a lightbox and spending time in front of it. But most people establish a tradition that involves light or implied light. Try it. Today, you can get battery operated lights that function as candles without the fire hazard. There are whole candles that operate on this principle in spite of being built of wax. But if you can, get a real candle and make yourself comfortable, watch it, let it warm the area where you sit. Think what light represents for you, and why it is important to your holiday.

Warmth is also important in the winter when the wind is blowing so hard and cold that it penetrates right to our bones! You are lucky if you have a fireplace, but if you don't, you can access one on youtube or film one on your own, and play it back while you and a loved one snuggle under a toasty warm blanket. Add some hot cocoa or your favorite hot drink and you have a recipe for celebrating any winter holiday.

I will add more articles on how I have celebrated various winter holidays, but feel free to comment and tell me how you celebrate yours! Give us all ideas to make our winter one full of warmth, hope and light! 

Don't have a holiday? Stay tuned. I'll tell you how to get or make one.

Here are some videos that capture the holiday spirit. I will edit this as I find the best ones. There are hundreds out there, and if you want to explore on your own, here are some resources.

YouTube is a good resource for Christmas videos, but their search engine doesn't always find the best of what is there. More on that in another article, but try searching Christmas video, cartoon or movie and you should get some decent results. If you are having trouble finding something onscure like Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, ask and I will link you :). 

this one claims 101 classic christmas videos. some links are broken but most work and its a good resource, though not always PG rated. The second link is another 101 links by the same author - use the same precautions

I have a few videos recorded on VHS that I will try to get on for you (sigh, not until next year, they are lost) - they are three of the few Chanukah videos I have seen.

There will be more in the video section but the first I present you with is A Christmas Carol, a cartoon rendition that is mercifully short but gets the message across. Enjoy!

Right now the last word is don't let it get too commercial. There are so many good meanings to the Winter Holidays that you really can have a good holiday with limited means, whether by choice or not.

So sip your favorite comfort drink and enjoy the good feelings you get from the traditions you keep. The good thoughts of your fellow beings all over the world are with you. The Universe is with you.

Happy Holidays!