Going Home for the Holidays

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like HOME.

For so many of us the holidays mean going home. And for many people its not ALWAYS a positive experience. For everyone I work with that is steeped in their family of origin with love, support, unconditional acceptance, there are several who are constantly working to maintain themselves, their truth, their light, with those same people who raised them. it’s a mixed bag. I am often reminded to be sensitive and not assume when I’m talking to folks around the holidays, that not everyone loves going home. For them, it can be a time of struggle, hurt and rejection, and I need to be aware and compassionate to that.
Often times I myself sit at a crossroads on that same drive home. There is incredible love, and sometimes equal hurt, and struggle.

I ask us to remember, that Christmas is a time of finding the Light. We’ve just celebrated Winter Solstice, THE return of the Light. The celebrations of tree boughs, and candles, and fire and presents. Its traditions age back further in time than I can know. It is a time of remembering the gift of Light, not just the length of daylight, but OUR light, the beacon within each of us. At my Winter Solstice gathering we talk about what we’re leaving behind, and what we’re willing to step into in our lives. it’s a time of reflection, and of renewed purpose. Of gathering and sharing with those who support our commonality, that we are all here for a Divine purpose, and our journey is ongoing, our strength renewed continuously by our Faith and our living Spirit’s presence in our daily lives. it is a gift, at least to me.

What sustains me during the holiday stress, whatever its origin in the season, is my ability to stay connected to what and whom are truly important to me. I know I need to make time to meditate, to pray, to rest, to get outside in nature and breathe fresh air, to walk, so that, from that place, I can stand in my own Light. That is what makes me love this time of year. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter who sees it and who doesn’t. Its not up to anyone else to validate my worth, my work, what I believe I stand for, THAT is on ME. When I make time and space to take myself to my true home, the one that lives deep inside me, the place that I know, not just my worth inside myself, but have a greater sense that my true worth goes WAY BEYOND ME, is when I feel the true holiday spirit. It is in my hearts home, that I touch Spirit within me, and I feel loved. That is the place of home that transcends all others. That is the place I feel unconditionally supported, affirmed, encouraged, celebrated. That is my real family of origin, if you will.

During this time, that is sometimes a mixed bag, I encourage all of us, to find that deeper place of home. To, amidst the hustle and bustle, go HOME and feel the love we long for. Within that HOME, our Light is not just seen, but seen as greater than we could even know for ourselves. In the eyes of Spirit, our coming home is always a time for rejoicing!