Savoring and Celebrating Reinvention

It's that time of year again- beyond Thanksgiving and into the Holiday Season; Christmas has sprung! And with it the sights and smells and sounds we enjoy for a month every December. I admit, I like the season of fresh green trees (we always have a real one) and bright twinkling lights. I've especially enjoyed the last seven years celebrating and bringing its traditions to life with our son- who is still a true believer of all things Santa.

He's a train kid and as of this morning we've already seen The Polar Express twice in all it's holiday glory. We've been watching it for years- ever since he first called it "Choo Choo Moo"- short for movie we think. Every year he seems to notice new details and hears words of the story that become new to him. This makes his mother and I laugh quite regularly. We love how the story always seems to hold something new and vibrant for his heart. This reinventing never gets old. In fact, we savor it.  I think there are elements of the whole season that do that for all of us. Things get reinvented for us in new and magnificent ways at magical times of the year like Christmas.

For me it's the Christmas music. And specifically it's John Denver and the Muppets. Ok... I admit it- I'm probably a Muppet at heart and John Denver's poetry in song has always been worth repeating- the world misses both he and Jim Henson something fierce. Their Christmas collaboration from the late 1970's  has remained with me annually since I was a boy my son's age. This is not a review of that work (and it probably could be), but rather a bigger statement about how things annually reinvent themselves in powerful ways that keep us going- and keep our strongholds alive.

I have great memories of listening to the album I originally owned on LP. I sang parts of its magic for friends at my mother's New You club when I was eight or nine years old. I've owned it as a cassette and now have it on CD. I love pulling it out the day after Thanksgiving and giving it its full merry measure until I am finally forced to put it away- usually about the same time we go back to school and this year that's January 9th! So maybe I can savor it's magic just a little bit longer.

This annual reinventing is full of timeless words and lyrics and story that touch my heart each year in new and different ways. It never gets old. This year it's simple lines from The Peace Carol and Kermit's dream of a Christmas Wish. Moreover songs like When the River Meets the Sea and A Baby Just Like You bring the real meaning of the season back for me year after year. I'm sure the season's music and traditions do this for millions of people. I like the way traditions reinvent themselves for me and I'm really enjoying seeing that for with my son as well.

Reinvented Holiday Joys  and Traditions are keeping me going strong this December. I hope that's true for you as well. There's great magic in stories that stay with us and reinvent themselves year after year- magic worth holding on to and savoring and celebrating. I hope you're enjoying some reinvention at this special time too.

"If you believe in love, that will be more than enough for you to come and celebrate with me"- Kermit the Frog