Thursday, December 30, 2021

Focusing My Eyes And Heart On The Joy, Goodness, And Love In The World This Christmas

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I sincerely hope you had a BEAUTIFUL one!

I did.

Yes, it's been challenging these past two Christmases to feel the spirit because of what's been going on all over the globe. However, I love a good challenge. Therefore, I directed my attention away from all the negativity and chaos this year and made a conscious choice to focus my eyes and heart on the joy, goodness, and love in the world. And what better holiday to do that than Christmas.

One day last week while in meditation, I began thinking of my father and both my mothers, and how they always made Christmas such a special and magical time for us kids. This is the time of year when I miss them the most. So after I finished meditating, I selected an array of photos from my collection of family photographs and placed them on the coffee table so that I could look at them throughout the holiday weekend. One evening I lit some tealights that I placed inside red votive candle holders and then positioned them all around the photos on the table. And as I quietly sat there gazing at the images before me, I began to smile, because I could actually feel the presence of my parents. 

I could feel their love.

And I could feel them smiling back at me. 

I thanked them for being my parents and for bringing me into this world; providing for me; supporting me; and for being who they were.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the parents I did. And what was so cool about my parents was that they were very attractive, vivacious, and magnetic. But at the same time, they were modest, humble, and encouraged others to take center stage and be magnetic. They each had an incredible gift for making everyone around them feel comfortable and important. 

But what I'm most proud of when it comes to my parents, was how much they were loved.  

I don't know a single person who met them, who didn't instantly love my parents.

So, that's what I focused on this year -- I wrapped myself in the joy, goodness and love that my parents both received and gave to this world, by doing the same thing myself. 

Just because someone dies, doesn't mean that their goodness and love no longer lives. 

It continues to live on in the hearts of those they loved. 

Today I would like to share some of the photographs I took over the Christmas holiday. 

Please enjoy...

These first three photos I captured in Old City, where they were preparing floats for a Christmas parade...

 

I love how bright and colorful this float is...

Isn't this adorable? It looks like the guy in the green jacket is reaching up to hug the giant snowman...

The night before Christmas Eve, I took my camera to City Hall and spent well over an hour walking around, capturing all the people enjoying the Christmas festivities at Dilworth Park. It felt absolutely wonderful to be surrounded by all that positive, joyful, and loving energy. You could literally feel it permeating the air. It was so heartwarming to see everyone smiling at one another and wishing each other a Merry Christmas. I got teary-eyed. 

This is a light show that was projected onto the beautiful architecture of City Hall..

A double-decker carousel inside the center court of City Hall...

I took this photo because I liked the smoke rising from the grill...

This is a patio area outside the Dilworth Park Cafe that they decorate each year for Christmas. Every table has a fire pit in the center that you can ignite to keep warm...

The Christmas tree at City Hall...

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year, filled with joy, goodness, and love!

Here's to 2022 🎉💗