Holidays are meant for relaxation , enjoyment , spending time together, slowing down , watching the trees sway, sipping tea besides the sparkling Christmas tree.

Although this may change from family to family based on how you perceive it.

This Christmas I was thinking of a different narrative. Could there be more presence than actual presents, more downtime than frenzied busyness, more simplicity than decoration , more genuine experiences than mindless shopping.

How successful was I, not a lot because its hard to explain this concept to kids who crave for the world of social media, video games , TV time, gadgets , likes and followers that they don’t know how to operate otherwise.

Nevertheless I still wanted to plant the seed no matter how infertile the surrounding environment would turn out to be.

” Oh really Mom, the whole world gets a Christmas present , why can’t we.”

“I spend time outside because you do not understand me.”

“Can you not be onto me all the time.”

The days of Christmas that I was home had its own challenges with teen tantrums and unmet expectations but I was still looking for that silver lining amidst the chaos of staycation.

Here I was yelling at my kids for being on their phone all the time, for staying in bed browsing almost till noon , exasperated, for back answering and not obeying rules.

Where could I look for that rainbow in my own house and then a song came along “12 days of Christmas.” Its like you hold on to the strangest things when you think you are sinking. Its a song of tradition and Christian tenets to which I was drawing a parallel to rediscover my own faith in the ordinary occurrences.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . a partridge in a pear tree.

A partridge in the pear tree (= Jesus Christ) or a walk that sets you free.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . two turtledoves.

2 turtle doves (= The Old and New Testament) or my sacred books.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . three French hens.

3 French hens (= faith, hope and charity) or the bluest of blueberry.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . four calling birds.

4 calling birds (= The Four Gospels) or me baking cake for Santas faith.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . five gold rings.

5 golden rings (= the five Testaments) or endless waiting on the bench next to the ice skating event.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . six geese a-laying.

6 Geese A-Laying (= 6 days of Creation) or me tuning to my intuition.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . seven swans a-swimming.

7 swans -A- Swimming (= 7 gifts of holy spirit) or my daughters signature tidbits.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . eight maids a-milking.

8 Maids A- Milking (= the 8 beatitudes) or discovering subtle solitude.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . nine ladies dancing.

9 Ladies Dancing (= the 9 fruits of holy spirit) or an unexpected gift.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . ten lords a-leaping.

10 Lords A-Leaping (= the 10 commandments) or minutia pleasures in our own tent

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . eleven pipers piping.

11 Pipers piping (= the 11 faithful Apostles) or a San Franciscan gesture.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . twelve drummers drumming.

12 Drummers drumming (= the 12 points of Doctrine) or that eternal sunshine.

This is my Christmas story. You cannot go back and have a new ending , yet everyday you can choose to create a new beginning.

Happy exploring:

Good Reads: A spark of Light -Jodi Picoult

Good movies: Nat Samrat, Vice