Week Forty Nine: Merry Christmas (never take it forgranted)

[I was going to update this blog in light of todays events in Glasgow.  However, the sentiment of what I have written just became more rather than less poignant and so I have not changed anything but ask each of us to think again about what is important in life - you never know when the day will come that you walk out the door and don't come back.  What do you want to be remembered for and do your actions align?  What do you want to achieve and what are you doing about making sure it happens?  To quote a cliche - will work be one of the things you wish you'd done more of?  For some it will be - a real measure of the difference you make to the world.

To all those who have lost someone today (whether in the tragic accident in Queen Street, through other accidents or just because their time was up, I wish you every condolence.  There is no good time to lose someone but there is no worse time than Christmas)]...

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I love the festive season.  A beacon to obsess about in what would otherwise be a very dark, depressing season of the year.  The lights, the trees, the parties, the food and drink, the people, the carols, the concerts, the tradition, so on and so forth.  It all makes winter almost bearable!! In fact if it wasn't for all that goes on around Christmas and New Year, I personally would become a sloth.  Motivating myself to get out of bed when it's dark and cold, getting through the to do list rather than just sitting under the blankie with a glass and TV, dealing with the ever present lousy circulation....I totally understand why people suffer from SAD.

So the Christmas decos and social calendar help no end....And we've obviously all needed it this year - I always maintain you can tell the state of the nation by how early in December we look to cheer ourselves up by putting up the Christmas tree.  This year we're all obviously needing cheered up as I think the majority of trees were up in the first week (according to all the facebook posts I saw anyway given I was still in the land of 30+ degrees at the time).

Over the last couple of years I have entertained in my house a lot - my afternoon of mulled wine and mince pies the Saturday before Christmas, hosting Christmas Day, baking for various events.  

This year is different on many levels.  Having been away and going away for New Year, I have done / am doing no entertaining in my house; I'm not hosting Christmas Day this year; I'm not in an office environment with Christmassy things going on and I haven't been in a position to splash out the way I normally do on presents for everyone.  Time has been more available than money this year!!!!  All of this has led to the realisation with an emptier house this year, that Christmas is about the smell of pine and cloves and cinnamon and mulled wine, the taste of mince pies and the time spent with people round about you.

It is less about (or should be less about) the gifts we give and the pressure we put ourselves under to have the perfect Christmas. Who dictates the perfect Christmas? Us? The marketing companies? The retailers themselves? Who cares if you don't have the perfect stuffing accompaniment or your Heston Christmas pudding to match your Jamie Turkey and your Delia gravy whilst Paul waits in the background with Mary to show you how to perfect the nibbles and you've not decorated your house according to the Kirstie Allsop handbook?

Wouldn't it be great to forget all of that? Recognise it is not just one day but a couple of weeks where we can relax with friends and family and take our collective feet off the gas for a few days. I'm sure if our focus shifted that way then this would definitely be The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!

So to that end I hope, with two full days of work/mayhem left, you can stop, lay down the to do lists, get out of work on time and enjoy the experience of time with friends, family, light, smells, taste, relaxation, nostalgia, laughter and whatever else.

I wish you a very merry festive season and I look forward to sharing many new adventures with you all in 2015.

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[Let's keep our lives in perspective, remember we're not in charge and live each day like it's our last cos one day it will be.

There is no HUNG OUT at, WINED ON and DINED on this week as all of a sudden it does not feel appropriate.]

Have a good one

Gillian  xxxx