Christmas Day is the pinnacle of my year;
Christmas Day is the day when I give gifts of my affection and love
to my family and friends-
something that I try to do every day of the year;
however, Christmas Day is special, Christmas Day is the day
when I get the opportunity to look my family in the eye
and give them all my time, attention,
and see their faces light-up
when they see the thought that I have taken in my preparation-
and the greatest gift that they could give me in return
is the overwhelming feeling of belonging, meaning, and love-
that is what drowns me in the atmosphere of the day,
that is what brings me to tears.

I am fortunate to have, to know,
and to appreciate, what I have in my life.
I have not always fully-understood
why the connections that we make
with a select group of people are so powerful;
but as I get older, and the more that I see of the world,
and the more that I understand our universe’s inner-workings,
the reality of truth that rules everything
cuts through the banality of our false-inventions like a knife.

Family is so much more than blood;
identity is so much more than a name;
our words and our intentions can sometimes be misunderstood,
but if something and someone means something to us
you have to share and express why-
it is not always an instant revelation,
most of the time it builds-up within us
until it is the right time for it to be expressed,
for reasons that we can’t always explain.

There are communities that live in parts of the world
in which their inter-dependency on each-other is their world,
it is all that matters to them:
families who have the respect, the strength,
and a connection to one-another-
and that to them is more than enough;
and I envy them, because every one of them knows the truth,
because, for them, life is about embracing what you have,
embracing every opportunity;
life is about what sustains and remains after we are all gone-
not the throw-away, trivial, material, stuff.

So, at Christmas dinner with my family, on a cold 25th of December,
as I enjoy the food, the company, the gifts that I have been blessed with-
and as I bask in the glow of the day
embodied in the dancing flames of the fire and in its embers-
I will take-in every moment with my eyes, my nose,
my finger-tips, and with my ears;
I will raise-up my glass in cheer
thinking about everyone who means something to me, and why;
and to everyone, everywhere, I will wish a very Merry Christmas,
and an amazing, and a Happy New Year!

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