La Vie at Tiffany's
Don’t worry…this isn’t a new math method you will have to teach your children.
As the late George Carlin once said, “We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values.” Marie Kondo is an expert on too much stuff and how to get rid of it gracefully by only keeping those items that “spark joy.” She has a new show on Netflix that you can watch (since we are all too busy to read but ironically not too busy to binge watch.)
Kondo suggests that our closets and storage spaces should only be 85% full (instead of so full that you are afraid to open the doors). That makes sense to me. Even my kitchen blender has a max fill line that is about 85% full. We too, as spiritual and emotional beings have an 85% fill line and we are maxing it out but trying to fill our daily lives to 135% capacity. We get trapped in a joyless cycle of overwork and overconsumption. To afford the things that we believe will bring happiness, we have to work long hours having less time for the things that actually sustain our happiness. Lao Tzu once said, “To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something.” So what if we subtract instead of adding? Not just material possessions but also activities, thoughts, patterns, and relationships that do not serve us any longer. Where do you want to spend your time, money, energy, and intention? So here is an activity that will help us to do this. Take a piece of paper and divide it into 4 boxes (see example). Then make 4 categories in these boxes: What will I do MORE of? What will I do LESS of? What will I start doing? What will I stop doing? (What am I willing to let go of?) This process can be very freeing when you see it in black and white on paper.
Where can you make more space, more quiet, more room for the things that matter most to you?
Subtraction is a powerful tool. What can you subtract to add to your life? Subscribe today and join La Vie at Tiffany’s as we share strategies, encouraging anecdotes, and creative solutions for finding delight in the everyday (www.tiffanyehnes.com/blog.html).
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How can we remember the real reason for the holiday season? For those of us who live in the Northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is almost upon us (December 21st). Also known in Europe by many names such as Midwinter, Yule, or Midvinterblot, it marks the shortest day with the longest night of the year. This celebration dates back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age with archeological sites built to carefully align with the winter solstice sunrise (Newgrange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). Worldwide, across many cultures, this time of year is celebrated through holidays, festivals, rituals and a sense of rebirth or renewal. In ancient Syria and the Roman Empire, people celebrated Saturnalia during the Winter Solstice and Sol Invictus (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) on December 25th. They brought light from the “Unconquered Sun” god into their homes to ward off the darkness. Our ancestors used light to help them through this dark time in the form of candles, decorated trees, and yule logs. Today our lights are LEDs but the reason for the season is still the same—to bring light into the world and cast out the time of darkness. Light is a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness; for love, hope, kindness, and compassion. In Asia, this dark time of the year can be referred to as Dongzhi or “shortest day.” In Iran, it is celebrated as Yalda Night -- the longest and darkest night of the year. Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights which symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. During the celebration, temples, homes, and office buildings are brightly illuminated with oil lamps or candles. We see these candle-lighting rituals also in Kwanzaa, Twelfth Night, Advent, Epiphany, Candlemas and of course it is the fundamental part of the Festival of Lights known as Hanukkah. Hanukkah means “to dedicate yourself” and is a candle lighting ritual observed for eight nights and days. It commemorates a dark time during the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BCE when the Greek King Antiochus looted and defiled the Jewish Temple and harshly persecuted the Jews in Jerusalem. During the darkest night of this struggle, there was only enough oil to burn the lamps for one night, yet by a miracle, the lamps remained burning for eight nights (or eight crazy nights according to comedian Adam Sandler). The reason for the Hanukkah lights is not for the lighting of the house within, but so that people see the candles in the window and are reminded of the holiday’s miracle. Of course, the celebration would not be complete without the story of a holy baby who was born in a manger to “bring light into the world.” The three Persian wise men also followed a brightly lit star and its light brought them to Bethlehem.
Fun fact: Did you know that the first Christians who arrived in America actually outlawed Christmas? Yep. Those fun-loving Puritans of the Plymouth Colony who founded our country decreed that all Christmas celebrations were illegal in New England during most of the 17th and 18th century. The Puritan community found no scriptural justification and considered the holiday to be pagan idolatry. This was one of the reasons why they left England under James I where the holiday celebrations were lewd and crude with parlor games of carnival spectacles, drinking, and debauchery. It was not until 1856, that Christmas became a public holiday in Massachusetts. It became a federal holiday in 1870 as a way to bring the country back together after the American Civil War. Regardless of our individual way of celebrating this holiday time, we can all remember the reason for the season. So in the next few days as the stress and materialism of the holidays draws near, remember that we can use this time of the year to bring light into the world. “Let your light shine...” as it says in Matthew 5:16 for “you are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14–15). How can you share your light with others and dispel some of the darkness? Subscribe today and join La Vie at Tiffany’s as we share strategies, encouraging anecdotes, and creative solutions for finding delight in the everyday (www.tiffanyehnes.com/blog.html). Copyright Note: This Little Light of Mine is a traditional gospel song first recorded by musicologist John Lomax in 1939. |
Life at Tiffany's
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January 2019
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