I love Christmas Eve. All the anticipation of the season is concentrated on this day. It is a quiet, soft day no matter where I am or what the weather is. The anticipation of presents and fun and dinner and all the wonderful pieces of Christmas tradition come together to create an air of waiting on Christmas Eve that is precious. I love picturing the scene of the shepherds in the fields, a young couple making their way to somewhere to get out of the dark and finding nowhere but a stable. Can you imagine what Mary was thinking? She’d been visited by an angel and she knew the Babe she carried was the Son of God. Don’t you suppose she was confused about not being able to find a place to stay? I love Christmas Eve because the whole world held its breath that night to see what was going to happen, and I can relive that wondrous waiting each year on some sort of mini scale because of the beauty of Christmas Eve.
New Year’s Eve is a different story. New Year’s Eve is often taking a nap and having your nails done in preparation for a crazy night out – if you engage in that sort of revelry. The night itself isn’t set up for introspection or quiet, we stuff millions of people in Times’ Square and shout the year away. Surely there is some planning involved, but it just isn’t the same. The wonder is gone. Actually, Karl and I didn’t do anything different than we always do. Mostly, it was a Saturday. Mostly. In the evening, we did stay up all the way to ten pm. I did drink sparkling wine with dinner. But over all, even during the years we have gone to a party or done something festive, the day of New Year’s Eve is simply the day before New Year’s party.
That’s why I think the Crucians (natives of St. Croix, of course), have the right idea. They don’t acknowledge New Year’s Eve, at least not the way mainlanders do. They don’t even call it New Year’s Eve. No. We just celebrated Old Year’s day and night, and then celebrated New Year’s Day.
I’ve been pondering the power of naming it differently. By giving the last day of the year its own name, its own title instead of linking it with the next day, I spent the day entertaining fleeting thoughts about 2016 and years past, but mostly I spent the day in the here and now as opposed to in tomorrow. That seems pretty powerful to me, as I often waste time (lots and lots of time!) worrying about what is going to happen, or what might happen, or what could happen. The lifestyle on my new island is laid back. We’re famous for being the “No Hurry”. I appreciate that, and that is one of the aspects of island life that drew me in. But I think there’s a more subtle and powerful aspect than just pace. I think that’s one of the lessons God is teaching me. Retirement and taking it easier doesn’t mean just heaping less on my plate, or doing it slower and with less urgency. It is living today – just today. For me, that isn’t an easy lesson, but when the afternoon gets hot and the sea calls, it is easier here to leave the grindstone my nose has found and just go swim with the fish.
May 2017 be a beautiful year for you. May you live each day in the here and now. Me, too!
