Living the Dream

Oh Christmas! The hours my siblings and I used to spend gazing at the old, chipped manger scene under the tree, the peanuts we used to "roast" on the electric light bulbs  and the plays we would practice for the grand performance on Christmas Eve--such joy. Such anticipation! These childhood memories meld with the present delights of family gathered from faraway places for a holiday together, and over all weaves the magic of twinkling lights, laughter, and the scent of cinnamon rolls and coffee.

For me, this stretch between the old year and the new seems suspended in time. Snow blankets the ground and there's a chill wind blowing as twilight creeps on, heightening the comforting fires in the fireplaces, while violin and harp music wends its way into the corners where people read (or play with their iphones or ipods). It's rather like a dream. And as too often happens with such times, beauty and perfection intertwine with lesser things (rattling windows, nose blowing, and having eaten far too much for comfort). The prosaic masks the poignant and leaves us not quite awake to its wonders.

Perhaps all of life holds this tension: The majesty, the treasure of the present cloaked in the garb of the everyday. Lacking intentionality, we can pass through golden fairytale moments with only the faintest of recognition.

Yes, too often we may walk unseeing, but in the year to come, what if we set about re-discovering childhood wonder--that state where every experience feels epic, full of all manner of possibilities? Rather than pass through time only vaguely aware of the gift each day holds, we can dream big dreams, then take them past imagination into reality. It is a year of no fences, so here's to moving forward into the unexplored. 2012 has been epic. Why should 2013 be any less!