By: Cari Corley
I am so EXCITED that the holiday season is upon us! Thanksgiving brings on a time of reflection and (finally) the freedom to start transforming my home into a more sparkly version of itself in anticipation of all things December and the dawning of a new year! I have spent the last week reflecting on all of the people that I am grateful for in my life. Thanksgiving morning my phone blew up with multiple and varied versions of “Happy Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for you!” The Thanksgiving season is also a time to consider the different ways we can give back to our communities. We live in a broken world and there are so many wonderful places to contribute to the greater good. This week is also the time I pull out all of my holiday decorations. My holiday decorations are loved like the Velveteen Rabbit...they have been around for over 20 years as an integral part of my holiday traditions. One of my favorites is the gold star we put on the top of our Christmas tree. It is a paper maché 20 point Moravian star and it has been on its last leg for over 10 years. But every time I go to find it’s replacement there is nothing that measures up to its wonderfulness. I love it, but being made of paper maché (simple ingredients of water, paper, glue and glitter) it shows its wear and age. There are corners of this star that have needed reinforcing over the years...duct tape and hot glue gun strengthening judiciously applied out of sight of the casual glance. This gold star is not so much different from my heart. My heart has corners that show the wear and tear of living in a broken world, and as a perfectionist these worn places of my heart are not necessarily places that I let others see, let alone celebrate. The author Anne Lamott has given me a new and challenging perspective recently in her book, “Hallelujah Anyway”
“One has to be done with the pretense of being just fine, unscarred, perfectly self-sufficient. No one is. The ancient Chinese had a practice of embellishing the cracked parts of valued possessions with gold leaf, which says: We dishonor it if we pretend that it hadn’t gotten broken. It says: We value this enough to repair it. So it is not denial or a cover-up. It is the opposite, an adornment of the break with gold leaf, which draws the cracks into greater prominence. The gold leaf becomes part of its beauty. Somehow the aesthetic of its having been cracked but still being here, brought back not to baseline but restored, brings increase. That is so un-American.” (Lamott, Anne. Hallelujah Anyway (p. 50). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)
I have no problems with the imperfections of my beloved tree topper. It makes me smile every year as I pull it out of its protective wrapping. So this holiday season, I am challenging myself to extend this same grace to my heart. I am going to identify one part of my heart that has been a bit beat up over the years and I’m going to find the courage to bring it out into the open and “gold leaf” it! I am going to find one place of my heart that I will compassionately share it’s brokenness and add some sparkle, highlighting that I have lived. This will require that I am fine with this part of my heart not returning to baseline, but rather an acceptance necessary for restoration. Will you join me this season? Do you have a corner of your heart that needs some gold leafing? Maybe you can find one holiday item that shows a little wear and tear because of it‘s history. Use it as a reminder for that corner of your heart that has lived a little more, has experienced some brokenness, and as a result is more valuable. Here is to a holiday season full of energy, compassion, and gold leafing! :)