| HOLIDAY
DECORATIONS HOLIDAY
DECORATIONS HOLIDAY
DECORATIONS..
| Principles
for Decorating
These are the principles I find people using when they get out their holiday embellishments...
- Harbingers of the holiday mood - Just seeing the first Christmas tree lighted in someone’s window, or hearing the first recorded carol, can get people thinking "holiday". For those of us who do look forward to the holidays that wind up the year, we enjoy the anticipation as much as anything - and the "gearing up" for the holidays themselves. When we put up our own holiday decorations - tree and lights, favorite cards and ornaments and greenery - I know I have weeks of contemplative as well as convivial pleasure ahead.
- Beauty - Well, certainly, people usually decorate for the sake of beauty. Even when you put up a goofy kid’s drawing on the refrigerator, you’re telling your child that it’s something beautiful. But during the end-of-the-year festivities, we’re trying to make our surroundings even more beautiful - so as to enhance our experience of the holidays, wouldn’t you say?
- Reminders of something important - A spiritual or religious concept? A tradition or a wonderful memory? Many of the traditional holiday decorations are also reinforcements of something important to us, whether it be a sacred symbol or simply something to draw us back into the pleasurable feelings of former times (childhood - or maybe not even times we ourselves knew... unless you believe in reincarnation!). Again, an enhancement of our enjoyment of this special time of the year.
- Surprising us out of our usual channels - We're used to walking into the rooms of our own dwelling places without really noticing much any more. Holiday decorations spice up our lives just by being there - unusual things in unusual places! Well, maybe the usual places - but only at certain times of the year. (But why not change them around each year so as to enhance this function? Hmm, a wreath around the bathroom sink or medicine cabinet? Or an ornament in the refrigerator!) Not the usual things? - like, what if you used large eggshells to hold the votive candles? There's something about the unusual that's genuinely good for us (all the year).
- Enchantment! - We try to enchant each other and ourselves with all the attractions within and without the house... lighting, greenery, ornaments, garlands, window scenes, music, special dining table finery, even the gifts under the tree. No wonder it’s hard to put all the stuff away! (I usually can’t bear to take my Christmas tree down until February rolls around.) We might even sometimes take enchantment elsewhere with us: to work, to a friend’s party, to the elderly neighbor who lives alone. Wherever we do it, there’s something refreshing to the spirit, I think, in just focusing on something wonderful for a time.
Something obviously makes it worth the effort to create an exceptional ambiance for the holidays. Whatever it is that works most on you, take it to heart! We all need a little elevation... and it’s nice to be able to count on it coming in the Christmas (Hanukkah, etc.) season. And at the end? If you enjoy the decorations greatly, bask in them by leaving them up awhile. Too tired to put them away? Ask a friend over to help you dismantle, make a party of it. Or take a little down at a time. (If the aftermath has become burdensome, another year you can do less - or even skip every other year so you'll appreciate it more the next time.)
Need any ideas for ways to make the holidays even more special? See the next section...
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