Is it December ALREADY!?! Is it just me who says this every December? Can you relate? Out of all the months, December is my ABSOLUTE favorite month!! For me, Christmas is the most magical time of the year. Christmas is my favorite holiday! It is some of my most joyous memories as a child. Not because every Christmas was filled with an entire day of happiness, because there were many Christmases I remember that my parents would fight. There were even some moments where we’d have gifts that would be returned and days following of arguments, etc. Christmas time is my most favorite time because anytime I think back to all the Christmas days in my life, it was what I remember feeling on that day and the days to follow that would reside deep into my soul that kept me elated, hopeful, and connected.
As many of you may know, one of the most inspirational women of our time who is best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style is the one and only Maya Angelou! Maya Angelou was also a singer, dancer, actress composer, and Hollywood’s first female black director. Ms. Angelou became most famous from her unique writing skills and her continued civil rights activist until her passing on April 28, 2014. Today Maya Angelou continues to inspire, motivate, and encourage women globally by her strength, story and drive of making this world better. One of Ms. Angelou’s famous quotes, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them fell” AND this sums up why December and Christmas is truly my favorite time of the year.
It is the memories as a little girl, of waking up to an explosion of gifts and an overstuffed stocking from Santa. It was the smiles of every person coming over to celebrate Christmas together through love and food. It was getting dressed up in celebration of the Holiday. Our house, both inside & out looked as if Mary Poppins stopped by and unloaded her bag to reveal an abundance of decorations, lights, and figurines in all the spaces and doorways of our home, inside and out. It was the joy I felt helping my mom make a zillion cookies, pies, wrap gifts for the mailman, the neighbors, the teachers, friends etc. that would happen weeks and days leading up to Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. It was the midnight mass that I looked forward to, the holiday songs all over the airways and our traditional Christmas caroling we did throughout the neighborhood. And I can’t tell you how much seeing Santa made me a true believer in the Magic of Christmas and the excitement of taking the JCPenney Catalog and circling all of the gifts I’d hope Santa would give me.
Even though I remember the hard times at Christmas. Even though I remember the fights on Christmas morning and some that lasted days later. What immediately comes to my mind and spirit for the past fifty years is the joy of Christmas. Santa saw me. Santa saw that I was still a good girl deserving of all the things, even when I was not always a good girl throughout the year. Relatives would see me as they came to celebrate with us on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Friends, family members would see me by gifting me with things I loved and things I didn’t. I understand today and what I understood as a child, is they cared about me. They saw me! – ME! It was not about the actual receiving the gift or what the gift was. It was solely about that they cared and loved me enough to include me as a person they wanted to thank me for being me. They loved me FOR ME! They valued me AS ME! Their gift was always a representation that they cared for me as a human being. Christmas time will forever be a reflection for me to remember we are all human beings that want to be seen, loved and cared for. For our strengths, however mostly for our weaknesses. As human beings, we were not made to live life solo. As human beings, we all desire to be loved for who we are. As human beings we all crave to be cared for.
As I type this today, I am imagining if we all take every day, every opportunity, every ‘un-holiday’ moment to see another, care for another, and love another. How incredibly beautiful and moving would this impact not only our own selves, BUT how impactful this small gesture, this small moment of time could live within another soul for days, weeks, months, and years to come.
So many of us, today or some point in our lives, show up with a smile on our face when we are not feeling happy. How many of us say that we are fine when we are struggling inside. How many of us feel alone in a room full of people we know and adore. How many of us feel abandoned because we were counting on someone to see us, care for us and love us for who we are even if they do not believe or understand how you live your life.
One of my favorite books is by Robert Fulghum. His bestselling book, All I Really need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. First published in 1986, thirty-six years ago. Today in 2022, I believe is something we need to reflect on, add to, and remind ourselves of:
- Share everything
- Play fair
- Don’t hit people
- Put things back where you found them
- Clean up you own mess
- Don’t’ take things that aren’t yours
- Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody
- Wash your hands before you eat
- Flush
- Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
- Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some
- Take a nap every afternoon
- When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together
- Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we all like that.
- Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little see in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
- And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all -LOOK
Of course, as you read the 16 things above, we can totally picture how this is really geared towards a kindergarten classroom. However, what if we read each one and find a way to see each of the 16 things as it pertains to life? Below, I will share a few on what came to me as I viewed each of the 16 things as it pertains to my life…
- Share everything. = your story will encourage other to share. Your story will allow another to know they are not alone
- Play fair = treat others how you’d like to be treated
- Clean up your own mess = Stop blaming others for your reactions or lack of responsibility.
- Say your sorry when you hurts somebody = owning your mistake is a beautiful way to show you care and love someone, you value them, you see them.
- When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Traffic is who is holding you back from living your best life? Who are you holding back on them living their best life? Hold hands is how are you taking your gifts and talents and empowering others? And who are you helping without wanting anything in return but to lift and elevate another human being? Stick together in it’s essence is are you sharing how you see another, care for another, love another? Are you doing this often or only on their birthday or on a holiday? When someone pops in your head randomly, call them and tell them you were thinking of them. Take five minutes out of your day and send a message to five people. Sticking together in love, kindness and care is truly the essence of life.
- …..And the biggest word of all — – – LOOK!!! See others for who they are! Share with them what you love most about them! Have they inspired you? Did they teach you something that shifted your life? Did they accomplish something recently?
When I hear the word LOOK – it is just a reminder that as we look out into this world and as we go about our everyday, Look how you can impact another human being by seeing them without judgement, without criticism, and with compassion. Look out for ways to inspire someone to see the best in themselves as so many want to be seen and can’t see past their own limited beliefs in themselves, their gifts, etc. based on what others told them from their past. If you look for greatness in another, you see the reflection of you. Let’s take this time to propel forward into 2023 LOOKING at others with light, love and mostly care. Let’s care for one another just a little bit more. Let’s share the care of another by sending a note, a voice message, etc.
Let’s not wait until December 2023 to come or a birthday celebration to share with others how much you care about them, let’s tell them today! Let’s remind ourselves how we feel when others pour into us, see us, love us and care for us. And let’s take the moment, the minute, the day, the week to give those feelings to another person by pouring into them, seeing them, loving them, and caring for them!
Let’s make 2023 the year for impact, uplifting and letting the world know that we see them, we love them and care for them. Let’s make 2023 a year where no one feels they are alone. Let’s make 2023 a year where we are true, authentic, and vulnerable to our pains, struggles, and mental state. Let’s make 2023 a year where we are true, authentic and vulnerable to our highs, our wins, our gifts and our accomplishments. This is the year to create the life balance we all need, desire, and deserve!
BE SEEN. BE HEARD. BE LOVED. BE TRUE. BE YOU. BE CARING.