- The air feels different on my skin; it almost seems to buzz and sparkle.
- People are nicer and that inherent goodness, that i believe all people have seems to shine through more often.
- There are Starbucks red cups to be bought, baked goods to eat, parties to revel at and decorations to admire.
- Although we generally don't get snow over here on the West Coast, sometimes we get lucky and have a day of that wonderful magic stuff swirling to the ground. Snow always makes me feel like anything is possible; and,
- The movies are filled with feel-good spirit and even though you might know the outcome because they all seem to follow a similar formula, you still can't wait for it to happen and it still makes you rejoice and brings you to tears.
All of those above points are part (only a small sample) of that special holiday magic that make this season so wonderful.
last night, in the spirit of holiday magic, i did something rather silly. i had watched a holiday movie and throughout the movie the main character was learning about different holiday traditions/superstitions from various cultures. One of them related to the Feast of St Thomas, where "if a spinster did all of these things, she would dream of the man she is destined to marry." Now these things involved using a stool to step onto the bed, taking off your shoes while standing on the bed, spinning around three times and then throwing your shoes at the door before settling down to sleep with your feet on the pillow at the head of the bed. Lo' and behold, in the movie this character dreamed of the man she was destined to marry and by the end of the movie they were at the beginning of what looked to be a wonderful romance.
So i followed suit. after all, what did i have to lose?
it's so easy to get caught up in the negativity of being single and the trials and tribulations that go along with finding "the one" that we forget to take pleasure in little moments. For me, believing in magic and fairy tales and what-could-bes are important parts of who i am. i have a soft spot for books that take classic fairy tales and reinvent them somehow. it's a reminder that what's old can be made new again, and that the magic contained within the words of those tales is sustained over time - it doesn't weaken, it is reborn with each retelling, each new person who reads it or hears it. they're your best anecdotes which always solicit a welcome response, wrapped up in a neat package.
So when i found out (thanks Google) that the Feast of St Thomas was last night, December 21, this spinster set out to dream about her destiny.
Well i can't say i dreamed about "the one," what i did dream was that my condo was on fire and the alarm didn't go off so i almost burned alive. not sure what that one is supposed to tell me....SL thought it could be a hot fireman in my future, S suggested a pyromaniac - a charming pyromaniac, i threw in that maybe it's a brave bystander and J suggested maybe it means i'll die alone in my condo.
If nothing else, it was a good laugh and rather than being a depressing reminder that i'm still not sure where mr. right is, it carried forward that holiday magic as i let myself be a kid again and believe that anything is possible. Let's face it, when we don't know what's around the corner: anything. is. possible.
