An Open Heart
This installment wants to be brief. We’ll see if it turns out that way! I’m continuing with daily posts on twelve “Qualities” and twelve “Gifts” of the Solstice holiday season, begun on December 21.
Day SIX: The Quality of Lightness of Being; the Gift of An Open Heart.
After a rather frantic, but fun, party on Christmas Eve, I attended a small brunch with a few friends on Christmas Day. The contrast between the two was obvious. I’m glad I went to both events, but the “Lightness of Being” was most apparent in the smaller gathering. It was relaxed, mellow, and pleasant. We chatted, but didn’t feel compelled to talk. We ate, but not of “party food”, just a few healthy, home-cooked items. When I returned home, I spoke on the phone with a family member, and he was concerned that he and his wife had “gone over the top” providing gifts for their five-year-old daughter. Her mother really, really likes Christmas—I’m not sure what this really means—and wanted her daughter to be very excited and appreciative. She wasn’t. She is her own person, and this reminds me that we can’t “want” things for other people. Really. We can think we do, but our wants are really our own. You might say, “of course I want my child to be happy, and that’s for them!” Well no one wants anyone else to be unhappy, do they? It seems to me that wanting for another, even something as seemingly universal as this, brings with it the “wanter’s” own expectations for the”wantee”. I would have advised my relative to provide whatever decorations make HER happy, and arrange a gift or two for her daughter from the heart—and then let go of expecting any particular reactions at all. Not easy, but, helpful.
The gift “from the heart” leads me to the gift I’m given today in this twelve-day meditation, “An Open Heart”. This means to me that my heart is open to receiving, open to giving, and still open once those things are finished; indeed, open to letting go. I will have several opportunities to practice this in the next few days. I’ll let you know!
From my heart to yours: All good things, as YOU decide they should be.
MusEditions 
Bonne Année!, Muse….Good post as always…True, our wants aren’t somebody else’s wants.My nephew said to me in regards to his Xmas gift ”aunt, you couldn’t have chosen a better gift cause it’s really what I wanted”….Wish you a wonderful 2010, Muse..Hope that you realized all ”YOUR” wishes!
CV
Colourful Vision
December 26, 2009
Merci. Bons vœux, CV! It sounds as if you and your nephew achieved the perfect balance. Always wonderful to hear from you, my friend. 🙂
museditions
December 26, 2009
Gift giving & receiving… pretty difficult. We recently had this secret Santa at the place where I work. It really irked me to see many grumbling about the gifts they got. It made me wonder what happened to the spirit of Christmas. The people who did the grumbling also claimed to be true Christians!
I can so understand the part of “open heart” Guess it is not only when it comes to gifts but to a lot of things in life! An open heart & mind 🙂
Apar
December 26, 2009
Meilleurs voeux à toi, aussi…
CV
December 27, 2009
[…] Gladness of Heart. I repeat those words to myself, and my heart opens, (I posted previously about an open heart) and well-being sets in. Here is a link to a YouTube video from a choir festival, with the mixed […]
Just Joy « MusEditions
December 28, 2009
Apar, I can’t imagine that! I would think it would be appreciated, no matter what the gift is. Ironic that it was the Christian, too. 😦 I’m glad YOU are able to keep an open heart!
CV: 😀
museditions
December 31, 2009