A month ago there was a beautiful poem being shared a lot around social media. It is called ‘Joy Chose You’ written by Donna Ashworth. You can read it below. I liked it that much I used it as part of a Quiet Tuesday practice. It speaks so well of gratitude and of not letting the self criticising mind – which can be such a force within meditation – run on autopilot down its own path.
It went down so well with our small group, I thought to read it again. This was the last but one session before Christmas and I wanted to link our practice to all that we might be experiencing in the next two weeks. There is not much point to meditating if it just makes you feel cosy and calm for 30 minutes, as lovely as that undoubtedly is. We all want to bring what we learn on the cushion to our daily lives and try to live better as a result. And our daily lives are cluttered with much more than just one uplifting emotion loitering around waiting for the right moment to choose you.
This Christmas time won’t be be a joy-fest.
Being with your family again, not being with your family, being alone, being with your awful family, exhaustion, pretending to be happy, the first Christmas without Grandad, the relief that the potatoes weren’t a disaster this year, having to go on a walk when you want to nap and drink brandy: you can add in your own stresses, delights, loves, hates and tediums. It could be a whirlwind of emotion or a sludge-fest; much of it out of your direct control. And so the question that is left is can you stand in the middle of it all? Noticing the joy, the positives and the pain and the negatives.
There may not be time, space or the social acceptance for you to nip off for 30 minutes to meditate over Christmas. Instead though you can craft out a few minutes for yourself here and there. At the sink doing the dishes when everyone else has left the kitchen or maybe offering to take the rubbish out and pausing outside the backdoor in the dark or closing your eyes (without sleeping) as you recline in the arm chair. Just pause and be ready for whatever appears. Maybe some joy will arrive, maybe it wont. It doesn’t matter. Welcome it in. Invite whatever appears to you. Sit in the middle of it. I’d go so far as to say that doing just that is a key part of wishing the Christmas spirit upon yourself. If you can welcome in your human visitors (favourites and non-favourites) with open arms you can do the same with your thoughts and emotions.
Rumi said it better than me. And Mike Scott did too. Though neither they or Donna Ashworth were talking about Christmas.
trustingmind 
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