December 28, 2015

Exhale the Crazy

Amy Jasper Christmas, Home Décor chalkboard, Christmas, pompom trim 2 Comments

I hope you are making beautiful new memories with the people around you whom you love most.  It’s this time of year that is supposed to be the most wonderful and most magical.

Yet, for the last few years, I’ve been caught between the magical moments that happen in spite of my hard work to create them and the pressure and stress of … well … all the hard work trying to set the stage for magical moments. Funny thing to say, isn’t it? I bet I’m not the only one, though.

Many of us put lights on our houses, decorate the insides of our homes and workplaces, shop for the perfect gifts that will light up the faces of those who receive them. We make cookies and goodies, cook fancy amazing meals, and we try so hard to look extra special for the holiday parties and Christmas church services and kids concerts. It’s a lot of pressure and easy to get caught up in the craziness of it all, trying so hard to make the magic that we expect from this time of year – trying to control it.

The craziness has settled down here … At least, for a now.

I’m enjoying this particularly magical moment while sitting in the easy chair of my living room, awkwardly writing this post on my cell phone, drinking my rum and eggnog, and listening to Sarah McLachlan’s Wintersong album. I can reflect.

Funny how the magical moments come in their own time. I can’t really create them. They have to be given room to exist. When we fill the days with pressures and expectations (and panic), there is very little space left to notice the magic. We have to have room to breathe it in.

Inhale the magic, exhale the crazy.

So as you celebrate joy to the world, don’t forget to live it, too. Make sure you have enough room to inhale the magic – inhale deeply – inhale the joy of the world.

I won’t leave you without sharing a project, so here’s one that reflects the thoughts of the day.

I used the Chalkboard Banner from Stampin’ Up (you can buy it from the year end sale online) and added some banners of my own, cut from the patterned paper in the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper. The Red Pompom Trim on the sides of my banner are also from the year end sale online.

If you order online through me by December 31st, using hostess code DF4WF2EH at the checkout, I will send you a special gift of Stampin’ Up product in the mail in January.

Have a look online and check out the Year End Sale! You can click on the SHOP button to find my online store.

And, my friends, don’t forget to breathe.

Merry Christmas and a joy-filled winter to you and yours!