Joyful Storyteller

Twinkling Lights. Tchaikovsky. Tutus. This is “en pointe” my favorite time of the year.

Like clockwork, right around mid-November, visions of Sugar Plum Fairies start twirling in my head. I suppose 18 years of dancing in The Christmas Pageant and in the Nutcracker might have something to do with those sweet dreams. If I wasn’t at school, I was helping Ms. Jorgensen teach the Oakland Public Schools’ students The Christmas Pageant choreography or I was rehearsing various roles at the Oakland Ballet studios on MacArthur Blvd with Ronn Guidi.

So many fond memories make this season so very special. Like caressing the velvet lined seats at the Paramount Theater. Or tip toeing through the cavernous hallways at the Kaiser Auditorium as I anxiously await for my queue. And the lights. The music. The applause. It was simply amazing. I lived on bananas and yogurt and loved every minute of it!

Sadly, those Sugar Plum dreams have been abruptly upended by our lockdown. You know what I’m talking about. Pandemic fun times.

But I am determined to not let the pandemic grinch steal our Christmas Joy. 

Christmas Crazy Kicked Out.

This is probably the calmest Christmas in, well, forever. Parties, presents and fighting for parking spaces all seem like a distant memory. So, with much calmer heads, we are purposefully giving Joy at every opportunity:

Delivery Joy.

On-line shopping has replaced (insert huge sigh of relief) the holiday rush at the mall. As those packages begin to magically appear on our porch, we encourage our delivery people to fuel up (totally borrowing this idea from another friend). Every day we fill up and put out a box of goodies: bottled water, granola bars, etc. And, with every delivery we hear a faint “thank you!” as our delivery people grab a snack. You should see the smiles on my kids’ faces as they receive the gratitude! 

Mail Joy.

You know how exciting it is to find a handwritten letter wedged between the bills and the ads? You drop everything and rip open the envelope immediately. Well, we’re trying to recreate a little bit of that joy by getting Christmas cards out waaaay before Christmas (thank you Pandemic, this is highly unusual). And, instead of it being a chore, it’s become a pleasure to add on a personalized note with a sincere hello to family and friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. 

Cookie Joy.

One of our Christmas traditions includes hanging out with our dear friends at the Christmas Craft Fair hosted by Sunset Ministry in S.F. Our tree is filled with handmade ornaments from the many years we’ve attended. One of the highlights for the kids is rolling out and decorating sugar cookies. For one dollar. And, probably the best part of that is picking up their bag of warm, delicious cookies and eating them all on the way home. Since this beloved event is not happening this year, my kids (now teens!) insist that we have our very own decorating party at home. Once finals are over this week, we’ll bake up a bunch of sweet memories.

Neighbor Joy.

So we are all stuck at home. And, yah, it might take a little effort to get your shoes on. But just do it. With our masks on, walking the neighborhood gives us a little stretching and fresh air time. And, more often than not, we’ll see a few neighbors. We’ve even met a few “new to us” neighbors along the way. A wave. A hello. We decorated our front yard with positive messages on rocks to greet our neighborhood walkers. A seriously, super fun activity with my wonderfully talented daughter!

Gifting Joy.

Simple to do. And, it’s so good! Extra (lots of extra) time at home has improved my kitchen game tremendously. Home baked gifts paired with boba kits are being received with expectation and delight!

Supporting Joy.

Since our theaters are dark, there are no live holiday concerts, traditional Nutcracker performances or sing-along Messiah’s. However, many companies are pivoting and are providing an in-home experience. Let’s continue to support our favorite performance companies (last year we saw Chanticleer) by buying a ticket and watching from the comfort of your couch. The arts needs you now. Desperately. Thank you❤️

Discovering Joy.

Finally, as the year comes to a close, we are taking a moment each day to add a blessing to our Gratitude Jar. In the midst of this pandemic, we have so much to be thankful for. Take the time to find your own silver linings. And cling to them. Deeper conversations. Slowing down. Improvising. We plan on starting the new year with reading these blessings together. With our hearts full, we’ll continue to focus on being joy to others in 2021. Let’s pass it on.

Have a blessed Christmas. And may your new year be filled with unexpected blessings and lots of laughter. Love you!

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:1-5