Consumer Reports did one of those surveys a while back about how much time people spend shopping for Christmas, both in stores and on line.  The average was 14 hours. That didn’t include the time devoted to gift wrapping, list making and all the other bells and whistles surrounding the flurry called holiday shopping.  And, as we know, those hours are often breathlessly sandwiched in on lunch breaks, after work and any other spare minute in the wee hours.  The procurement of Aunt Ethel’s fluffy mint greeen bathrobe moves to #1 on our list of life’s priorities.

Are you enjoying yourself?  Are you filled with the Christmas spirit? In case you forgot what that was—it’s about giving and receiving love……remembering that this holiday is about the birth of Jesus Christ and the eternal, unconditional love for mankind that his life represents.  We can forget that altogether as we dive, wild-eyed, for the last “must have” toy of the season, along with all the other crazed mothers on a mission. Many years, everything around the event of Christmas has filled me with much more dread, than joy or wonder or sugar plums. Most days, I have been in “count-down mode” wondering how I was going to get it all done and keep my happy face in tact.

Maybe there is a new way to experience the true meaning of Christmas, to feel more loved than stressed and to spend less—-on things that will just get re-gifted or shoved in the closet for next year’s white elephant party. How much more stuff does anyone we know, including ourselves—do we really need?  Is the gift about the thing, or about acknowledgement of our caring for one another?  How important is it to have bright, shiny boxes to open on Christmas Day?  How often do our kids play in the boxes and ignore the gift altogether?

Here’s an alternative to all of that.  A simple gift that is not about money or performance or the latest gadget.  A gift you will never forget if you receive it—and one that will have the same effect on any recipient you might chose to give it to.

A few years ago, my step-daughter wrote me a letter for Christmas.  No gifty-poo-poo….just a simple red envelope with a little bow.  She wrote it in green ink and put little holly doo-dah’s around the edges.  She wrote to me about how much she loved the way I loved her dad and her brothers and herself.  She wrote about how much it meant to her to get to know her father, as a person, after her parents divorced.  She wrote about how much fun she had with me and how much I had taught her.   Could any THING compare to this? 

So, what  if  those 14 frantic hours of scurrying and rushing and spending could melt away into a quiet time set aside to write a note from the heart?   Does this feel scary or airy-fairy?  Is it easier to spend money than to extend ourselves?    Are we conforming and performing our way through the expectations of Christmas only to find our energy and our wallets depleted when its all over?

All I know is that the opening of one heart beats the opening of any gift, any time, anywhere.