THE BEAUTIFUL CHAOS OF CHRISTMAS

It’s so close to Christmas. My family have just hit town. My home which normally houses three in now heaving and shuddering with an additional eight amazing, frustrating, wonderful people so dear to me. To say it’s beautiful chaos is an understatement.

I hope you all are getting set for a lovely Christmas with your family. It’s an incredibly complex time of year. Sometimes full of wonder and joy, and sometimes heartbreak and loneliness. Whatever yours looks like, I truely hope you’re with at least a handful of rockstar loved ones who give you the love you deserve.

The business of Christmas, the spending, the stuff, the expectations to put on the most spectacular Christmas lunch…it can be all a little overwhelming. Just try to find a quiet spot for yourself.

In the frenzy of Christmas shopping, I got thinking a little about what it is we really want as people.

So many people in the world, so many wants and needs, but I reckon it’s possible to get just about all our collective wants and narrow them down to a universal two: time and love.

Not money, not success, not recognition. Not Fitbits or beer making kits. Time. And love.

We often think we’ve got all the time in the world. We waste it. We care about the wrong things. We settle for jobs which don’t fulfill us. We settle for partners that think we’re just good enough. We pretty much think we’re going to live forever so we keep putting up with things that don’t meet our inner needs. Usually until some event comes and shocks us out of our complacency, and suddenly time is so utterly precious.

I’m not saying wait around for the perfect, ideal partner (they DON’T exist) but I do believe strongly in love. It’s what we each deserve. I’m not going to be with a person who looks at me and thinks “they’ll do” and I’m not going to treat another person that way. Love comes from a place of deep kindness and respect, and courage to take risks, even when each person knows there has been / is currently / will be pain and disappointments.

Love is so central to our happiness but is often the most difficult thing to manage in our lives. So when do you know you’re in love? How do you know? You just do. The heart is a large muscle, and while often our brains may play tricks on us, our bodies seldom lie. Your heart knows. And it knows that life is not always sweet and rosy. In fact, some days feel as though you’re inhabiting a burning building. And yet, when you don’t settle and are in fact with the person you love, your heart knows that it’s just another day facing the messily glorious, frustratingly mad crazy wondrous quiet noisy beautiful package of life.

You may need to wait for this love, but it’s what you deserve. 

Have a wonderful Christmas everybody. Catch you in 2019!