We're thinking of taking down the Christmas tree, my family and I. Only thinking of it, mind you. It's a 15-footer we got for a song, and it's so bright and beautiful in our great room. Besides which, our kitty (who's only two Christmasses old) finds it endlessly amusing -- which, naturally, makes it endlessly amusing for the rest of us, too. I figure, this tree gave its one-and-only life to bring us joy, and it's still sucking up water and hanging onto its needles to do just that, so what's the hurry? Some friends were over yesterday and commented on it, but not disparagingly, as they had taken theirs down only as recently as Valentine's Day. "One of our neighbors showed up in January and offered to HELP us take it down," they said, "like, 'hint! hint!'"
OK, listen. There's not one of us using our homes as a Wal-Mart (God, I hope I'm right about that!), so why should we think we gotta shove the Christmas beauty out the door to make room for all those red hearts of Valentine's Day, only to have THEM gone by Feb. 15 to make room for the green shamrocks of St. Pat's? Oh! Did I miss the Washingtonian silhouettes of President's Day? Yes, and the masks and beads of Mardi Gras? Easter eggs, anyone?
You know, the wheel of the year is gonna turn right on schedule, whether we decorate appropriately or not. So again I say, What's the rush? If it's beautiful, let it be!
ALLLL THIS TO SAY... I'm at work on a chapter called "S-t-r-e-t-c-h---I-t---O-u-t" and would love your input. My birthday was a couple weeks ago, but it has long been my practice to begin my celebration with (can't resist) "the dawning of the age of Aquarius" around Jan. 20 and to keep it going AT LEAST until "short February's done." Since my book is about ringing in a whole new decade, I'm thinking, now HERE'S a celebration worth stretching out longer than usual.
Why not take the whole year? Given our particular place in the cosmos, that good ol' wheel takes 52 weeks to complete one turn. Think of it! You could celebrate the Big 5-Oh in 50 different weekly ways -- and still have a two-week vacation left over, for doing absolutely nothing!
Any thoughts? Do tell!
Love, Sheila
P.S. This chapter is also about stretching out in the muscles-and-joints sense of the phrase. If you'll soon 'leave your 40s' (or have done already), I don't need to tell you about the increasing importance of stretching out your BOD. Indeed, maybe YOU could tell ME (i.e. again, I'm looking for stories to illustrate the point)!
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Sheila - Sorry for the long s-t-r-e-t-c-h of time before my response (hee hee).
This is an expansive topic, no pun intended. I mean, there's the stretching our bodies do naturally toward the ground as we get older (the bra size that goes from 36C to 36 Long!). We could talk about loving our jowls, our long boobs, our "panzas". There's a challenge for ya. As I recall, you do address The Body Physical in many other chapters.
There's stretching out the celebrations, like you did for Christmas (I love it!). I think that's a wonderful idea, no matter what the occasion. We oughtta make more occasions, in fact! Why wait a whole year for a birthday? Let's celebrate the new moon, the first day of the Sears sale, the fact that we didn't get in a fender bender today, whatever! More celebrations are definitely in order in "this day and age" of so much fear and angst.
Another kind of stretching that I think a lot of folks do in their 40's is stretching their boundaries. I'm trying this with writing. Also with photography. Matter of fact, I didn't start playing soccer until I was 40, so I could count that too. Trying something new career-wise, or some new activity or interest. I don't know if this is because we're at a stage where our kids are more independent, or our careers are well-managed, or we just have the maturity to see that life is short and we better get on the stick if we're going to do the things we always dreamed of. Whatever the cause, this kind of stretching is a great 40-something activity.
Hope the allergies aren't hammering you too badly (I think my nose is getting stretched from all the sneezing and blowing!) and that the writing is going well.
Love,
Peg
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