The Creative Exchange

We start our Christmas in my islands as early as November and ends sometime in January as soon as the feast of the Three Kings is over. So yes, we do celebrate a very long holiday season in the Philippines!
So when I started sprucing up the house only this week I am quite late since it is already December! Our neighbors lights were twinkling since November! And my family has been nagging me (as the official 'stylist' in the house) to start decorating the house!
And so the advent candle wreath was fashioned again. The old recycled holiday decors were cleaned and assembled again in keeping with tradition . . .
But for me, Christmas is not the whole festive season of mad rushing, shopping, gorging on holiday stuff and all that giddy, glittery, and opulent celebrations . . . although it is the perfect time to gather family again and catch up on busy lives!

But for me, it is really this:
The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The mass of Christ. The gathering and remembering of our royal births in humble surroundings that is not ours. To find a "home" amidst the turmoil of the times (that resonates with contemporary society), to spend it among animals and nature and people and strangers instead of rulers and kings. To understand and appreciate our equality in the sphere of life.

To find the beauty and grace to be special and rule with love

and find meaning in our sacrifices and difficulties and
to remember and celebrate this special moment every year
and every moment that we know and own
the basic truth in our hearts!
That we are all special and we all need each other to be whole!
To receive the gifts of serenity and bliss
and hear angels amidst the noise of technology
traffic, fireworks, and sounds posing as music and art . . .
Every Christmas, as is the tradition in our family for years,
I prepare a special house for a special birth every December. . .

. . . because in that house lie the special meaning of the holidays,

no matter what religious belief you hold.

For Pagans, it is also the rebirth, not of a savior,

but of the divinity in each of us,
awakening and starting another journey into a material world
that will complete our spiritual fate
if only we will remember who we are
and live special lives even in difficult times!

I have not completed my decorations yet.
But the important one is up
and the rest will follow . . .

A merry, merry Christmas to all!
And most especially to my friend Lisa
and all our special friends at: