Christmas Carols ringing out the meaning of Christmas....

'this the season to be jolly, falalalala, lalalala....
Why? To celebrate end of year? Possibly receiving presents from those who love you? Big feast? The Birth of Jesus Christ who was born this day and saved the world, or rather, Thanks to him we mortal beings have a good enough reason to remember our loved ones, cashing in on the opportunity, cos in our busy daily lives we never stop to reward ourselves?

Over the last few years, I've had a few rather different Christmases. In the bleak, mid winter,frosty wind made moan...Christmas orphans being adopted into others family celebrations, where life stops and we feast merrily, listening in on the Queen's speech, exchanging presents, watching time go by...Strolling in nature in the days after, to try to work off the effects of gluttony....quality once-off time spent with some...with only memories to imprint, and not always snapshots to retrieve. My love and Thinking of you all.

A contrast to the years spent in Asia, where buffets happen alongside family gatherings, Santa of all shapes and sizes greet with meaningless toys from bonbons, then it's off to shopping shopping and more shopping...

And this year, it will be a return to the warmth of sunny Australia, the chance to soak it all up outdoors, dodging the heavy Santa outfits...and time with new family members which will be a new experience..

A key element linking all this, are the Christmas music that one has to accompany the festive season. School years have come and gone with concerts and rehearsals of various hymns which brings together what it is all about. 'o little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie..'

In recent years, I have played with friends at their Christmas celebrations and have led some shy individuals to singalong, or kiddies with short attention spans to 'disrupt' the performance when it goes slow...requests along the lines of easy, cheerful 'Jingle Bells..Jingle All the Way!' I enjoyed it when my friend Fiona, who played keyboard and guitar whilst I played the sax, asked everyone why 'We Three Kings' was what it was, and what were the symbolism of the 'gifts that traversed afar' . An amazing lesson on why.

In the shops, there's always hurried songs that gets on my nerves, with an intention to speed us up on our purchases...examples include Mariah's "All I want for Christmas is you.." , or "聖誕老人來了" ( in tune of frosty the snow man) ..ie more of those about Santa, and gifts..at these times I get irritated about occasions when my workmates tell me about the stresses of locating a specific gift for their child, and running across London to secure it. the satisfaction of Santa 'getting it right' for the kids of today, and thus their motivation to earn decent wages to support that? Hmm...could be easier if Santa is only a myth and not one that kids can use to advance their uncontrollable stash of toys from everyone who has the expectation to keep up? And also, the limited luggage space for the long haul traveller to bring something for everyone...and probably feeling that it wouldn't be all that well-received on the other end...the perpetuality of not repeating gifts, or getting something that will bring a smile, in time, appreciated. Reinforcing the idea next year...good for retail but not everyone's best news ( esp on arrival of Jan's card statement!)

Or the Ever growing PC collection of cards for Xmas, for not just the typical parents, but mum and boyfriend, brother and boyfriend, dad and step mother, sister and fiancée, the list goes on..And which Charities cards to buy and why and how much? It is big business in itself.

Well, of course the company Xmas parties, a diversion for organisers and those who attend as a yardstick of whether this working year is better than the others, and the opportunity for corporates to thank spouses (or gate-crashing friends) of employees how they have patiently tolerated the peaks and troughs of their employees work this year...

It's only recently I've really paid attention to some of the lyrics in the non hymnal songs and have started to understand what it's all about, and liking them even more. Examples include:
I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus - why was daddy missing? I used to think broken families, but maybe Santa = daddy?
Winter wonderland - a beautiful song with a story throughout.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas - people on their own? Music with a sad tone (heard numerous times in my travels this weekend in Singapore!) about the joys of it all..

and for further reading, A recent article in the guardian about what is the best.


I sometimes can't wait for the calendar to flip over to the new year, when we can put 'The Christmas Industry' out of the way and begin afresh. In this regard I have a higher respect for Thanksgiving as a holiday and wished that my part of the world use it more than attach it to Christmas ( or Kissmas, I cringe when I hear that...it's not what it's all about!!!)

Almost time to head south, with our plastic sleigh of goodies, and jet lag still trailing along....Joy to the World! But one can't always make heaven and nature sing...!

- linking photo of mariah and Justin courtesy of Amanda talars blogpost which echoes mine....agh

A mentor, trusted advisor

As the year is slowly coming to an end, it's time for a review of all the meetings we have had, over coffee, breakfasts, over the phone, across the miles via skype,

and finally, one on couches overlooking the Thames.

We kept time by staring across the river to a clock of an organisation that we both have a passion for, past and future, in a venue that I do spend a lot of time in when I get the time, and did explore spending even more time there, but life didn't turn out that way.

It's been an interesting journey. A relationship I sought out to establish, via a network that opened new doors to meeting aspiring women. A first choice that didn't turn out, but a shared passion and stepping out to express my intentions made it happen.

A year of asking questions, and would I say, my actions mirrored hers? Coming out of my shell, asking for feedback, reaching out, yes, the pendulum has started to swing. It's good to know that there is someone who you can share and can prompt you to do more, even when you don't believe that you can.

The tools to make decisions, empowerment to own them, responsibility to take on the next challenge. Will we ever know whether the next step is the right step? But if we never try will we ever find out? How do we manage those that hold you back, or those that say go, for their various reasons?

It is you that knows best. Know Thyself. Take Action.

****

Bamboos, Temperate House, Kew Gardens

Just finished reading Aleph, by Paulo Coelho. Picked up this book from the library hoping to be inspired on new journeys. One of the most interesting things that I have picked up from the book was the author's skim-read of an article about the Chinese Bamboo. "once the seed has been sown, you see nothing for five years apart from a tiny shoot. All the growth takes place underground, where a complex root system reaching upwards and outwards is being established. Then at the end of the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly shoots up to a height of 25 metres.." Inspirational, thinking of the bamboo plants we once had in our backyard in Sydney when we were young. It didn't take them 5 years to spread like crazy. More about my late autumn visit to Kew Gardens to come..