It is September 20th, and I am already in the Christmas spirit (and to be clear, I have not been drinking any spirits to reach this state of mind). I have, in the past 2 weeks, seen several Christmas re-runs, and have seen some online as well...and the mood has just stuck with me. I don't even have Thanksgiving done yet, but my mind, and more surprisingly my heart, are in Christmas mode.
Not content to just feel whatever I am feeling, I have been trying to analyze what is happening here...what has sparked this...
Since 2001, I have had to start thinking about Christmas in advance. Up until this year, I was annually involved in planning a MASSIVE Christmas presentation at the church...so I would be looking at music, listening to music, arranging and transcribing music...all starting in the spring. I'm not doing that this year (or any years in the foreseeable future, given the change in leadership that has take place). So for many of those years, I have just gone through the motions, being too busy to actually really FEEL anything. Well, this year, I have been working on a Christmas CD for a few months, and it hasn't really brought out too many Christmas-related emotions either...until somewhat recently as songs have been recorded and mixed. Everything about this is positive...great collaborator, great song choices, paired with a great charity (The United Way), and no one bossing me around. It is amazing how healthy freedom is.
So in the spirit of regaining more freedom in my life (and to simultaneously eliminate some very negative things), I resigned from the music position I hold at the church...and while it is bittersweet, the impending liberation I feel already is beyond words. I am looking toward the future with great excitement, and great openness to the posibilities of what to do with my extra time. Now, while I thought it would be nice to stay for the rest of the calendar year, I realized that I wanted to have December off completely so I can experience all of the Christmas things I haven't had time for in 10 years. So maybe that is partially why Christmas is at the front of my mind...I'm looking forward to it for the first time in years.
I have also been spending a lot of time thinking about "olden days." That might come from working on my family tree, and looking at lots of old pictures...many of which were taken at Christmas (remember when there were no cell phones, so people couldn't just snap photos on a whim?). I long for those days with primitive technology...which brings me to the following observation/rant:
I feel like technology is ruining the world. Yes, I know that without technology I would be unable to type that sentence, and there would be no internet to post this on...so spare me that ridicule. I have seen people texting each other while sitting NEXT TO each other...and that frightens me. We, as a society, are losing our abilities to communicate with each other. It started with email to replace writing letters....then it was chatting online to replace talking on the telephone...then cell phones to eliminate pay phones...then texting to replace email and talking...then facebook to replace ACTUALLY visiting one another. These pieces of technology have been meant to make things more convenient, but we've convenienced ourselves into becoming socially inept, and often rude (texting someone while you're visting with someone else, texting while watching a movie at the theatre, not turning cell phones off while you're out with people, playing games on your iPhone instead of talking to the people you're with). Let me be clear...I love my iPod touch....I check my email from it every morning before I get out of bed so that I don't have to wake anyone up...but I think I still have the ability to engage in coversation....well...aside from conversation with strangers...I've never been good at that because really, I am shy. And I love having all of my music with me at all times...but I still play CDs and RECORDS!! Ok...rant over...
So, in thinking about my fun new plan for the beginning of the year (see my previous blog), I started thinking that as of December, I'll have time to return to my older traditions of confection/baking gifts this year....truffles, as always, but maybe some new things as well. I think that will be the perfect way to utilize my time...maybe even to connect to those olden traditions....maybe it'll do this jaded soul some good.
Monday, September 20, 2010
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Monday, September 20, 2010
I'm beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...
It is September 20th, and I am already in the Christmas spirit (and to be clear, I have not been drinking any spirits to reach this state of mind). I have, in the past 2 weeks, seen several Christmas re-runs, and have seen some online as well...and the mood has just stuck with me. I don't even have Thanksgiving done yet, but my mind, and more surprisingly my heart, are in Christmas mode.
Not content to just feel whatever I am feeling, I have been trying to analyze what is happening here...what has sparked this...
Since 2001, I have had to start thinking about Christmas in advance. Up until this year, I was annually involved in planning a MASSIVE Christmas presentation at the church...so I would be looking at music, listening to music, arranging and transcribing music...all starting in the spring. I'm not doing that this year (or any years in the foreseeable future, given the change in leadership that has take place). So for many of those years, I have just gone through the motions, being too busy to actually really FEEL anything. Well, this year, I have been working on a Christmas CD for a few months, and it hasn't really brought out too many Christmas-related emotions either...until somewhat recently as songs have been recorded and mixed. Everything about this is positive...great collaborator, great song choices, paired with a great charity (The United Way), and no one bossing me around. It is amazing how healthy freedom is.
So in the spirit of regaining more freedom in my life (and to simultaneously eliminate some very negative things), I resigned from the music position I hold at the church...and while it is bittersweet, the impending liberation I feel already is beyond words. I am looking toward the future with great excitement, and great openness to the posibilities of what to do with my extra time. Now, while I thought it would be nice to stay for the rest of the calendar year, I realized that I wanted to have December off completely so I can experience all of the Christmas things I haven't had time for in 10 years. So maybe that is partially why Christmas is at the front of my mind...I'm looking forward to it for the first time in years.
I have also been spending a lot of time thinking about "olden days." That might come from working on my family tree, and looking at lots of old pictures...many of which were taken at Christmas (remember when there were no cell phones, so people couldn't just snap photos on a whim?). I long for those days with primitive technology...which brings me to the following observation/rant:
I feel like technology is ruining the world. Yes, I know that without technology I would be unable to type that sentence, and there would be no internet to post this on...so spare me that ridicule. I have seen people texting each other while sitting NEXT TO each other...and that frightens me. We, as a society, are losing our abilities to communicate with each other. It started with email to replace writing letters....then it was chatting online to replace talking on the telephone...then cell phones to eliminate pay phones...then texting to replace email and talking...then facebook to replace ACTUALLY visiting one another. These pieces of technology have been meant to make things more convenient, but we've convenienced ourselves into becoming socially inept, and often rude (texting someone while you're visting with someone else, texting while watching a movie at the theatre, not turning cell phones off while you're out with people, playing games on your iPhone instead of talking to the people you're with). Let me be clear...I love my iPod touch....I check my email from it every morning before I get out of bed so that I don't have to wake anyone up...but I think I still have the ability to engage in coversation....well...aside from conversation with strangers...I've never been good at that because really, I am shy. And I love having all of my music with me at all times...but I still play CDs and RECORDS!! Ok...rant over...
So, in thinking about my fun new plan for the beginning of the year (see my previous blog), I started thinking that as of December, I'll have time to return to my older traditions of confection/baking gifts this year....truffles, as always, but maybe some new things as well. I think that will be the perfect way to utilize my time...maybe even to connect to those olden traditions....maybe it'll do this jaded soul some good.
Not content to just feel whatever I am feeling, I have been trying to analyze what is happening here...what has sparked this...
Since 2001, I have had to start thinking about Christmas in advance. Up until this year, I was annually involved in planning a MASSIVE Christmas presentation at the church...so I would be looking at music, listening to music, arranging and transcribing music...all starting in the spring. I'm not doing that this year (or any years in the foreseeable future, given the change in leadership that has take place). So for many of those years, I have just gone through the motions, being too busy to actually really FEEL anything. Well, this year, I have been working on a Christmas CD for a few months, and it hasn't really brought out too many Christmas-related emotions either...until somewhat recently as songs have been recorded and mixed. Everything about this is positive...great collaborator, great song choices, paired with a great charity (The United Way), and no one bossing me around. It is amazing how healthy freedom is.
So in the spirit of regaining more freedom in my life (and to simultaneously eliminate some very negative things), I resigned from the music position I hold at the church...and while it is bittersweet, the impending liberation I feel already is beyond words. I am looking toward the future with great excitement, and great openness to the posibilities of what to do with my extra time. Now, while I thought it would be nice to stay for the rest of the calendar year, I realized that I wanted to have December off completely so I can experience all of the Christmas things I haven't had time for in 10 years. So maybe that is partially why Christmas is at the front of my mind...I'm looking forward to it for the first time in years.
I have also been spending a lot of time thinking about "olden days." That might come from working on my family tree, and looking at lots of old pictures...many of which were taken at Christmas (remember when there were no cell phones, so people couldn't just snap photos on a whim?). I long for those days with primitive technology...which brings me to the following observation/rant:
I feel like technology is ruining the world. Yes, I know that without technology I would be unable to type that sentence, and there would be no internet to post this on...so spare me that ridicule. I have seen people texting each other while sitting NEXT TO each other...and that frightens me. We, as a society, are losing our abilities to communicate with each other. It started with email to replace writing letters....then it was chatting online to replace talking on the telephone...then cell phones to eliminate pay phones...then texting to replace email and talking...then facebook to replace ACTUALLY visiting one another. These pieces of technology have been meant to make things more convenient, but we've convenienced ourselves into becoming socially inept, and often rude (texting someone while you're visting with someone else, texting while watching a movie at the theatre, not turning cell phones off while you're out with people, playing games on your iPhone instead of talking to the people you're with). Let me be clear...I love my iPod touch....I check my email from it every morning before I get out of bed so that I don't have to wake anyone up...but I think I still have the ability to engage in coversation....well...aside from conversation with strangers...I've never been good at that because really, I am shy. And I love having all of my music with me at all times...but I still play CDs and RECORDS!! Ok...rant over...
So, in thinking about my fun new plan for the beginning of the year (see my previous blog), I started thinking that as of December, I'll have time to return to my older traditions of confection/baking gifts this year....truffles, as always, but maybe some new things as well. I think that will be the perfect way to utilize my time...maybe even to connect to those olden traditions....maybe it'll do this jaded soul some good.
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