Lighten up

The boat parade last evening was great fun. There were quite a few beautifully decorated boats. I don't have the inclination to go all out with decorating so I put up a few simple lights.



This photo is of Sojourner all decked out with her twinkling snowflakes and her strings of blue lights. She is the only boat decorated in our corner of the marina. Somehow leaving her all dark and alone didn't seem right. Now she just seems happy to be lit up for Christmas.

And I'm feeling happy and content too. I realize that this is the season for great expectations to overwhelm. And those expectations can easily be shattered. I think that's particularly true with visits to family or keeping in touch with friends. For me, it's easy to slide back to old indignations and self-pity behaviors. I laugh when I think about what Eckhart Tolle writes: “If you think you’re enlightened, then go and live with your parents for a week.”

So what I'm doing is not attaching too much importance to the good times or the bad times. Rather, I'm seeing if I can keep an even keel. I'm limiting expectations, minding my own business and staying with in the middle of the road without reeling off into the ditches.

For today I am simply enjoying the feeling of Christmas. The lights I see outside pretty much echo the feeling inside.