And so this is Christmas ...

OK … here we all are, the season for giving and receiving is upon us once again.

So, what’s it like this time of year for you? Are you happy to be celebrating or do you question its relevance or significance these days?

It’s actually the perfect time to relax and deepen into a fuller appreciation for what is real and true by listening to all that’s being offered. In his beautiful book “Seven Thousand Ways to Listen” Mark Nepo offers just this, the infinite ways we can allow the world to touch us and move through us by listening with all our being.

“Deep listening,” Nepo says, “is a form of gifted receiving.”

And isn’t this so? We usually feel at our lightest, we feel the most inspired, aligned and attuned when we are at one with That which whispers through our hearts. When we listen in this way everything makes sense and feels perfect just as it is. This could also be called the “Gift of Presence”, and whenever it presents itself in our lives we always feel blessed and grateful.

As we go about our Christmas and New Year’s celebrating, we could take this as another opportunity to dive a little deeper in the company of loved ones around us. Instead of simply gifting presents we could offer our own presence, making ourselves more available to all our family and friends. Surely this is what these gatherings are really all about.

And, there’s also that after effect that happens when all the celebrating ends. Here lies another opportunity to deepen. Instead of getting caught in the collective dullness hangover, wondering what all the fuss was about, we can simply sit with what is and allow the call to our next cycle of growth to meet us in our listening.

And, it’s good to remember that it’s all a gift of giving and receiving, every single breath we take is a gift. Remembering this gives us the willing heart to move forward no matter how life appears or presents itself.

In conclusion, here’s Nepo again:

Let the gifts stitch or cut the web

Let what needs to come together or break apart

Come together or break apart.

Let the miracles, even the ones we don’t want or see, unfold.

...

...