Your spirit, essence and intention lingers in all those things you touch

This Christmas is so different from my Christmas in 2011.  Last year the house was decorated and the atmosphere was festive.  Multicolored lights twinkled on the tree and greenery boughs gracefully drooped around each side of the overhead kitchen cabinet.  The table was set with red Dansk Nordic Knits dishes and minature lanterns lit each place setting.  It took me several weeks to complete the decorating, but I was relaxed and enjoyed every moment of the holiday season.  This year is different, because there are no decorations and in their stead are stacked boxes of the belongings that will be moved to Arizona.  The excitement of the move has been replaced with the arduous task of packing dishes, glassware and other breakables with extra care that a long distance move requires.  As I pack each piece I think about the journey and wonder if I have packed it with enough care to ensure its survival.  I had special concerns with Sid's mother's antique ink well collection.  A good friend of ours, Bob, has his own moving company -- Bald Eagle Movers.  Bob will be moving us into our new home and will be the first of our friends to be stepping across the threshold of our front door.



The gift of carefully folded paper

A couple of days ago Bob dropped by with previously used empty boxes and a large box of neatly folded packing paper.  Bob had obtained the packing paper and some used boxes from someone that he had just moved.  It was so remarkable that each sheet of packing paper had been folded with great care -- all the edges were lined up and the crinkles in the paper had been smoothed out as if each sheet was an expensive linen being prepared for placement in a linen closet.   The tall stack of folded paper fit neatly inside a large box as if this box had been specially selected for a custom fit.  The packing paper I had purchased and had been using for packing was a rather monotonous task.  Today I
decided to get all those antique ink wells safely snugged into boxes and my monotonous task was transformed into an unexpected and rather magical experience.  As I began to use that "recycled" packing paper I became aware of a presence in my house that was previously contained within that large box of neatly folded paper.  That presence seemed to reach out for me as if there was a story to be told.  I immediately felt as if that presence was a woman that had carefully wrapped her most prized possessions, and when unwrapping those possessions she had then straightened out the paper with care and concern for the recipient of her efforts.  I wondered what kind of person takes the time to attend to paper when her own home is in such chaos after a move.  I wanted to meet this woman and ask her about her story.  But then I realized that I knew her through the paper and boxes she had passed along to me.  Her essence and spirit were now in my home and were packed in those boxes that would make the journey to a new place.

In today's fast paced world this experience of receiving another human being's essence was an unexpected and special gift for me this Christmas.  Despite the lack of holiday decorations, and walls and shelves that are becoming bare I have a different kind of Christmas spirit this year -- the gift of a spirit and essence that has been given to me by a woman I don't even know.  She never suspected she was giving me this gift.  This unintended gift has inspired me to carefully refold that packing paper when I arrive at the end of my journey and pass this paper and the boxes along to another.  The recipient will be given the gift of our combined spirits, which will make that monotonous packing a little bit less arduous.  (This little tree is a lemon juniper, which is my Christmas tree this year.)

When we give a gift there is a subtle energy that accompanies that gift.  It is our own energy that we give to another through an inanimate object.  The things we touch and the food we prepare all take on our energy, our spirit and the essence that is us as individual living beings.  The intention of the gifts we give and the food we prepare are embedded in each of those gifts and food through our subtle energies.  Have you noticed when you touch someone's piece of clothing or other possession that you pick up the essence of that person?  This is another way we communicate with each other; through the sharing of our energies and spirit.  (This is my little Sheltie, Gabbie.)

This Christmas season is especially blessed.  I have been reunited with a special girlfriend, which was lost to me for so many years.  I have new friends, which have become an important part of my life.  I have strengthened other relationships, which seemed to be beyond my reach in years past.  And I am moving to a very special place with the man I love.  This place holds new adventures for me and has already become my home.  And a complete stranger gave me the gift of her presence and her love through the paper she carefully folded.  This has made all the difference as I pack my possessions for this move that looms ahead.  May your holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate, be blessed with all those things that enrich your life, and may you carefully and thoughtfully share your essence and spirit with the very best of intentions.  Those are the gifts you give to others every day.  Blessings to you!