Monday Musing: A Report on "Green" Christmas

Regular readers of my blog know that each year my family has a theme for our Christmas stocking gifts. Last year was shapes, the year before was numbers, and the year before that was experiential. We've had themes for about fifteen years, so I actually get inquiries on the theme from some of my friends who look forward to brainstorming with me about what to get for my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my two nieces, ages 8 and 1.

 My mom always starts with a warm up activity. This year she created a quiz in which all of the items included the word green. Then she gave her gifts wrapped in lovely lime green paper. Her gifts ranged from green tea to green pencils made of recycled materials.

My brother made a green meal for everyone: kale and spinach soup and leafy salad. So yummy.

My sister-in-law gave donations to various green causes in honor of each of us. My 8-year-old niece lead a craft activity for everyone using primarily green beads. I gave a variety of green colored gifts in recycled bags that ranged from green sippy cups for my youngest niece to early reader books about God's green earth for my older niece to green scrapbook supplies, pesto, olive oil, fair trade coffee and and a green scarf made as part of a sustainable program.

My father added to the green food gifts, primarily with vegetables. And of course our tree was green, so we took note on how thematic that was. My youngest niece wasn't in green, but I couldn't resist a picture of her in her Santa hat!

My 8-year-old niece suggested that next year's theme be symmetrical. Watch for that update a year from now!

***
Get started on a year of personal development with a 4-week interactive eCourse. Another group starts January 10, so join before the next group fills up! Explore the topics of Personalize, Organize and Realize with like-minded people.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2012.

Monday Musing: Sightreading Christmas Carols

Our book of Christmas Carols

Since I don't really cook and I am in a family of good cooks, I generally stay out of the kitchen on Christmas. Part of my job is entertainment. Sometimes that means playing with my nieces, but I also find time to play the piano. Every year I sight-read our vintage Christmas Carol book. No one really sings along, but everyone seems to enjoy it. My niece just started piano lessons, so this year she jumped in a few times to play a song.

As I was playing this year, it occurred to me that it is much easier to sight read a song I know. When the chords become complicated, I can ignore the right hand and keep the familiar melody going while I focus on what the left hand needs to do. Isn't that the way lots of things are in life? When something difficult demands our full attention, it's important that we have some other things that are very familiar so that those things can keep going while we focus on the problem at hand. That's why healthy habits are so important. Without healthy habits that can keep going under most circumstances, we have to focus on daily practices, and those daily practices fall by the wayside as soon as something else demands our attention.

Which leads me to my next thought: you have to keep the song going, especially when everyone knows it. Even when the arrangement is difficult, you can't stop and worry about a wrong note, you just have to keep it moving. Perfectionism slows us down and interrupts the song. At it's extreme, it makes the song almost unintelligible.

However, there is a time and place to work on something and make it better. Since I don't have a piano of my own, much of my time at the piano is sight reading. It's been years since I've practiced a song and really learned it. Thus, I decided that this week I would learn Bach's Invention #1. I've practiced every day. Productive practice means that we look for the areas that are difficult, go over the details slowly, and learn to improve. As tempting as it is to "practice" the things we do well, in order to really improve, we need to practice the things we don't do well.

And so it came to pass that I am pretty good at Bach's Invention #1, but I'll always enjoy playing through the book of Christmas Carols, mistakes and all.

I hope that your holidays have been merry and bright.

***
Equip yourself for the new year with a Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

The next round of interactive eCourses begins January 3! Explore who you were created to be, get organized with your time, space and money, and then learn to set and achieve goals. All of these are available in 4-week courses that you complete on your own time each day.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

[Repost] Video: Last Minute Christmas Gift Tips

For those who missed it last week, here's a quick video with meaningful ideas of gifts you could give that don't involve a trip to any retail stores. Perfect for the person who has everything but doesn't have it all figured out. (Is that you, or is that someone else? Or both?)

***
In which I stand in something like a mall and give ideas for meaningful gifts that don't come from a mall. Having trouble seeing the video? View it on Vimeo.
 
It's not too late to give a gift certificate for a Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Waiting

I flew on the tail end of a blizzard. Bad weather leads to delays. Delays lead to long waits.

What do you do when you wait? Do you distract yourself from the situation by reading or doing puzzles? Do you disengage from the people around you by communicating with your social networks online or via phone? Do you get angry at the people in charge who may or may not be able to do anything about the wait?
 
As Americans, we don't have to wait for much. We can have almost everything almost instantly. My observation is that this leads to people having less and less skills for waiting itself. On some level, we don't even wait for Christmas, we half-celebrate it for weeks before the actual day arrives.

And yet waiting can be a spiritual practice.  In the church world, we are in a season of waiting called Advent. In a world of non-stop activity and instant information and cross country travel, waiting asks us for an entirely different set of skills. It asks us not to do, but to be. It allows space for quiet time, reflection and preparation.

This December, wait. Not in an impatient way, but in a meaningful way. How do you do that? The same way I did in the airport. I set up camp in a quiet corner. I ate lunch, finished some work, practiced some yoga (yes, I'm that crazy person doing yoga in the corner of the airport). Then I simply waited. I stopped "doing" and started "being."

Start being. Find meaning through quiet time, reflection and preparation. Not sure how? Contact me to set up a coaching appointment.

Home

Now that I am back in New York, people are asking, "How were your holidays? Did you get to go home?" The short answer is yes, even though I did not go to any particular house in which I have ever lived. I went "home" because I saw the people who represent home to me.

At the end of my national tour, the show flew me to Denver, where my brother and his family live. My brother and his wife have bought a beautiful house since I was last in Denver, so I spent my time there in a place that was all new to me. My parents were there as well, and we continued all of our Christmas traditions (including the Christmas theme discussed in an earlier post). Gathered with these people doing these things, I was "home".

I have spent the last 8 or 9 New Year's Eves with two close friends from Minnesota. One of those friends was in Denver this year. And so were the cousins of the other friend. And they brought their boyfriends and husbands, one of whom I went to seminary with. And one of the cousins knew a friend of mine from New York who was also in Denver visiting his family. When it was all said and done, I arrived at a New Year's Eve party in downtown Denver at which the only person that I did not know was the person whose condo the party was being held. So I made friends with him. There is always room for another person at home.

The Christmas Theme

Many years ago, sometime after the end of my own childhood and the beginning of the next generation, my family decided that we would have a theme each year for our stocking gifts. Everyone would get everyone else a present under $10 within the theme. Creativity is highly rewarded. Over the years some of our best themes have been
- Elements
- Millennial
- Conceal and Carry
- Made in China
- Black and White
- Initials
- From the Heart
One year we had to get everyone else the same thing, and it had to be something useful. Another year we had to create experiences for everyone to do together, including my then four-year-old niece.

This year the theme was numbers. My mother made an elaborate Bingo game using only prime numbers. My sister in law played up her "12 Days of Christmas" plates and mugs. There were gifts of items that had numbers printed on them, such as a card game or crayolas. I did a series of readings from the book of Numbers in the Bible, emphasizing key words in each verse that had to do with the gift. When I read a verse about a pillar of fire (Num 14:14) I gave a pillar candle. I asked each person to give their gift back to the common good, just like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. The candle was joined by a serving plate (Num 4:27), appetizer plates (Num 4:7), a silver trumpet ornament (Num 10:4), and finally a dessert (Num 11:8). I ended with the Benediction (Num 6:24-26). Another memorable Christmas for the record books. (By the way, I used the NRSV - other translations may not have all of my key words!)