I had a small personal crisis this last week, which as I'm attempting to type it sounds kind of pathetic, but it has made a big difference to acknowledge it. I declared "Enough!" and so we're done with the holiday season.
We're not packing up the tree and returning the gifts and going on a cruise or anything. I just decided we're done with the craziness. As I said in the last post, we're done shopping (although I did buy a couple of little stocking stuffers for my daughter at the grocery store yesterday, just for kicks). I've gotten shipping notification on a couple of things that aren't going to make it until the New Year. Oh well. I'm not going to make up with other gifts; the kids will just get an extra gift in a few weeks. We're also done with the teacher gifts, and cookies for the neighbors. We send out an email Christmas letter, and only a few cards to old neighbors and friends we don't have email addresses for, and that's been taken care of. The advent calendar is underway, and as we've come to each day's project, if it seems like we don't have the time or energy to complete the day's task, we skip it.
Most importantly, I made the decision to be done with all the potentials– all the projects I should do and all the projects I could do if I just worked harder. Or had more time. Or was willing to sacrifice my own good night's sleep to stay up and keep working. I'm not making any more things to sell, thinking I'll be able to take advantage of the last... how many? days of shopping till Christmas. I put away the canvas and paints, the burlap, the holiday fabric, the beads. The blankets I've been meaning to make the kids for Christmas 3 successive years in a row (I have all the materials and they were in a pile on the table to remind me) won't happen again this year. And the nature collection bags that the kids would really enjoy for hiking won't get sewn either. The hand-drawn Christmas cards that I would someday like to complete are going to sit un-drawn. I erased the lists of Things To Make from my project white board. This decision enabled this fantastic situation:
That is a clean worktable!
I can now move on to art and other projects that have nothing to do with the holidays! If I want to, I can work on the projects I listed above, but I have no need to finish them in the next 7 days. Without the pressure to finish, I feel so liberated! I can enjoy what is coming up over the next couple of weeks, and spending time with family is way more important anyway.
Interestingly, I had several conversations yesterday that highlighted the distinctiveness of this choice. The theme was the same for all: "Oh my gosh! This is such a crazy time of year! I have to do this, this, and that, and I don't know when it will all get done. And I haven't had the chance to do that. I also want to do this before tomorrow. And I'll have to go shopping this weekend! Let's avoid scheduling that thing in the next 3 weeks because I just don't know how I can do more than I already am doing. And I know you must be just as busy as me!" Thankfully, while I could have scheduled that thing, I now have plenty of extra time to spend with my family enjoying the season. Happy Holidays!
I'm doing the same thing at work today, stopping productive work to clear off years of accumulation (yes, years; that's the problem with working all over the place) of papers, invoices, statements, and other such stuff. Feels good to say "enough!"
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've been looking closely at the drawing that is your background lately, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. You can hang it in my studio when you need more wall space in yours.