"You're always welcome here, beside me at my kitchen table. There are logs on the fire, tea in the pot and cinnamon buns fresh from the oven.
Pull up a chair and relax. It is Christmas, after all."
This little book has been catching my eye since October, when I saw it on the shelves of The Highland Bookstore in Fort William. I left it there, thinking that it was too early to be reading books about Christmas, but I have seen it online since I returned from Scotland. It has been whispering to me, the way that books do when they know they are in the company of a bookworm, and the deer on the cover was telling me that I really needed to add this festive tome to my collection of winter books. So I did. Amazon delivered it this afternoon and I have been quite engrossed.
In Calm Christmas, the author brings together festive traditions and slow living, the history of Christmas and self-help suggestions for getting through it all. There is no doubt that Yuletide can be a very stressful season, but this book aims to make navigation of the tree, the lights, the dinner, the family fiascoes, the chaos and so on, much easier to endure, and as the title suggests, a much calmer experience.
There are handy sections about the five main aspects of Yuletide; Faith, Magic, Connection, Abundance and Heritage, with tips on how to determine which of them mean the most to you and the people you share the festivities with. This is a great way to anticipate areas of possible conflict before they even happen. The author also addresses the issue of melancholy, which can sweep over even the most contended individuals at this time of year. The book suggests ways of coping with all the hubbub if you have a chronic illness, which reads like a permission slip to opt out of anything that is just too much. I addressed similar issues in a post back in 2017 Merry Shitmas, so it was nice to see that other authors are also highlighting the fact that Christmas can be a really crappy time for a lot of people.
It also made me feel better about the fact that I don't have my main tree up yet! I have just completed a new book and sent it in to my editor and I only have a week of respite before I need to begin writing the next one. This is the reality of working as a full time author. It means that I haven't had a chance to fully decorate the house yet - I only have my pre-lit weeping willow tree up, which is very wintry and Narnian, but the main tree won't go up until this weekend. I had been feeling like I should have it all done by now, until I read Calm Christmas and thought "Sod it! It can wait until the weekend."
The book moves from November and the build up, through Christmas itself, then onto New Year. I found the New Year section really struck a chord with me, as it is all about goal setting and dream realization, rather than making resolutions that don't last. I always set my goals for the next year on or around New Years Eve, but I have generally been thinking about them for some time by that point.
Although, as a self-help and mind, body, spirit author myself, I didn't find much that was totally new to me in this book, the information is offered in such a fresh way that I was completely engaged. It has served as a lovely reminder of things I already know, but sometimes forget i.e. that I need to take extra care of myself due to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or that I am in control of what traditions I keep and which ones I choose to discard as being a drain on my energy.
There was one concept that was totally new to me, however, and that was the idea of blocking out time in the diary for Unknown Goodness to come along. This is a wonderful idea! I often light candles, asking for good things to happen, but I have never actually made space for them in my diary. I really like the idea of inviting the universe to fill that chunk of time for me. It offers space for all those happy synchronizations to come into your life. It also helps to lessen the fear of the Unknown. So I am definitely going to put that concept into practice in my 2023 diary and I am excited to see what new great experiences, people and places, come along to fill them. I'm thinking of using the magic of the Wheel of the Year as a guide and marking each of the Sabbats as as Unknown Goodness Days. I'm excited to see how that works out over the course of next year.
All in all, I found Calm Christmas to be a lovely little guide to making the festive season less fraught and more fun, less of a jangle on the nerves and more joyful. It is a little book of peace and merriment, full of festive cheer and cosy atmosphere. It would make a fabulous stocking filler for a bookworm, or a nice bathtime read for yourself. I'm very glad that I listened to the wisdom of that pretty deer on the cover and bought a copy, as it is an interesting and useful addition to my winter bookshelves, and one that I am sure I shall reach for every year from now on. Happy Festive Reading!
Blessed Be
Marie x
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