Today is epiphany, when the Eastern church once originally celebrated Jesus’ birth. So we might say it is second Christmas. Our lights are still up inside and out. And our tree’s up. We are still munching seasonal chocolates. I continue to play Christmas music in my car. I’m not ready yet to bid these days adieu, especially in place of the dark, cold months of winter that stifle the year’s last hurrah. I want to hold onto some of the good this holiday brings: a cheerfulness and warmth toward strangers, a celebratory cadence in my steps, a lift in my heart’s song above the daily drudge.
Why does the mundane always drag us back from our festivals, tugging like gravity till our balloons lie all deflated and cheerless. How might I bring some of this rhythm and light, some of this forgetfulness and memory back with me into the daily round of chores and schedules? I don’t want or need more obligation by adding to my diligence an imposed cheerfulness, a forced smile, and so make my grinding tasks even more burdensome. No, I rather want to lighten the driving duties of the day, bring some sunlight into the shadowed spaces. Any thoughts my friends?
Janathan Grace Reflections 
well, you know I always hold to the Hobbit habits. They extend the joy of breakfast to second breakfast and then brunch and then lunch. By adding Epiphany to the Christmas season you have already renewed Christmas and brought it over out of the old year into the new year. You can now slow down from Epiphany but then move into valentine’s day. Make it a celebration of all types and colors of Love – love of family and friends, love of God and beauty and dogs and cats. A quiet celebration that warms the heart but add some physical, visual, musical elements to it to wrap you in the celebration. Maybe put together a selection of love songs that can be heard as a love song from God to your heart and play them for the week before and after Valentine’s day. Like Jim Reeves’ “Welcome to my world”, or “you are so beautiful to me”, or George Harrison’s “Can’t Stop Thinking About you”
Maybe look at an online list of holidays and invent ways to re-conceive them as celebrations of beauty, love, hope, grace…… but don’t make it a plan or a goal or anything. Just look at the list and then when the time rolls around maybe some spontaneous crazy idea will present itself. You can sprinkle the year with celebrations of life and love and furry things (but not mold – even though it is furry). And then you can blog about them and invite the rest of us to the dance!
Mardi, so many good ideas. I like the idea of making February the month of love, and I really would like to do more with music. I will be planting seeds for the spring this week, so January is really about new beginnings. But I can quickly get overwhelmed with ideas to implement, so I will start slow and simple.