Advent

“It is now, at Advent, that I am given the chance to suspend all expectation…and instead to revel in the mystery.” ― Jerusalem Jackson Greer, A Homemade Year: The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting, and Coming Together

Advent is forever my favorite and over the next month I’ll share more on why and how it has become so special and significant in my life. But today I recognized that the commercialsm of Christmas comes with a price, which is often a distraction from the meaning and mystery of the celebration itself.

It has been a year and then some but everywhere I look I see hope, love, joy, and peace. So in the spirit of the season I suspended expectation and created a version of a calendar/checklist that is merely focused on the present of presence.

I am reminded that in this season of anticipation there’s something soulful in seeing simplicity as a gateway to serenity. So before all the elves on the shelves haunt you, or the chocolate calendars guilt you, make the list that is mysteriously basic but beautiful.