I’ve been thinking a lot about this word lately, it’s probably my favorite word at the moment: Magic. I love the way it sounds, the way it looks, the way it feels. And what’s more magical than the holiday season when everyone is a little more happy, a little more cheery, and simply a little more festive.
Even though I love the word magic, and I tend to associate it with this time of year, I must admit, lately I feel like the holidays have been losing their spark; yet I feel like that’s on me. Sometimes I feel too much, expect too much, imagine too much, so much so that when the time comes, it doesn’t feel as magical as I wanted it to be.
Photo by Chinda Sam on Unsplash
I promise I won’t make this dramatic by talking about how, as we get older, the holiday festivities lose their touch of magic, and it doesn’t feel the same as when we were kids. Here’s the thing, there is still magic in the air, I’ve just personally never been able to feel it as much; only sparks and glimpses in the past few years.
Perhaps it’s the whole being too busy to stop and see the new decorations at the mall; or trying to catch up in life; or I wonder if it’s because I’m now realizing that it’s my turn to make them magical now.
My parents barely have the time to sneak Christmas gifts for my sister and I, and let’s be honest, I call myself the Department of Gift Giving For *Insert My Sister’s Name Here*. It’s a fun temporary job, but I didn’t exactly apply for it.
My recurring thought is that the holidays don’t feel so festive anymore, because I’ve decided to focus on the bad. On my divided family, of always knowing what the gifts will be, on the food that I don’t enjoy (sorry not sorry, I’m a picky eater). Instead of getting excited over decorating my room as opposed to seeing it as a chore, or getting excited because I get to give and wrap presents and bring magic to the little ones in the family.
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We don’t need a winter wonderland, or hot cocoa nights to enjoy the holidays, we don’t need to depend on others, or feel obligated to spend the festivities with people that don’t make your festivities magical. That’s another thing I’ve realized as I’ve been growing up. I get to choose who I spend the magical time with. Just because it’s tradition does not mean I have to go to this house, or see these people. I want to make my own holiday traditions, my own magic as I get older with the people that make me feel like the colder months mean there’s a spark of goodness in the air.
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
Despite spending years believing I was too old for the fun part of the holidays, I still believe there’s some sort of magic in the world that lives within all of us, and we can create whatever we wish with it. With my magic, I decide that I won’t let the festivities in my family go unlived, I will make the holidays the most magical yet.
Lots of love,
Happy Holidays 🎄,
Lya 🤎