Christmas - Decorating

I love to decorate for Christmas but for a number of years now I have struggled with a sort of guilt about it. It just seems so vane. It takes a huge amount of time. It creates clutter in my house and interferes with productive space. Maybe I am a "follower" of the decorating concept that touts positive flow of energy within a space. I just didn't know it until this moment. With this kind of thinking the decorating pendulum swings in a minimalist direction.

On the other hand time and accumulation of things seem to go hand in hand. My decorating forces lie in wait in my basement in an old trunk style freezer, Breyer Carolers, angels, Christmas village pieces, a precious nativity made by my daughter, snowmen, Santas, innumerable garlands, swags, beads and baubles all vie for a place in the pageant. Many of them gifts from my family,I love them. They are pregnant with memories of Christmas past and the love which prompted there giving. So,on the other end of the pendulum swing is a tendency to drag everything out and display it all.

And then we bring in a tree decorate it! Yikes! I am beginning to feel claustrophobic!

Add to this the reality of limited space which shrinks even more when it becomes filled with the physical, space occupying bodies of my loved ones... all 13 of us. Next year, Lord willing, there will be 15!

I have to have a strategy! I want things to look pretty without interrupting the flow of life. I want to display items that my loved ones have given me without having my house look like a Christmas warehouse. I want my family to enjoy our home. I want it to bring a smile to their faces. I want to acknowledge the season peacefully and joyfully.

So, I follow my gut feeling about space and the flow of energy and limit my Christmas decorating. I use my favorite things and rotate other things from year to year. I discipline my thinking and don't don every surface with some sort of Christmas representation. That way I keep the clutter under control and still am able to show my appreciation for gifts. That way during a season full of hubbub my family can function and I can have peace.