‘OOOO’ What’s in The Box? ( or, why ‘Tis the season to be curious falalalala la la )!
Updated: November 30, 2014
Dearest sparkle being,
Yes I mean you – I know some of you think it’s corny to be called that but I sometimes imagine all of you reading my blog, commenting and communicating with one another reminding me of thousands of brilliant soft twinkly lights from fireflies on a summer night that somehow manage to hang around until the Christmas tree is ready to be lit up and settle there as if by magic.
Sigh.. yup she’s getting in the holiday spirit!
Tis the season to get sparkly!
I live in the USA right now (although I’m Canadian) and I love how they make such a big deal about Thanksgiving here. It’s almost as big as Christmas and marks the beginning of the holiday season that flows through until the New Year.
It’s kind of like a canon of glitter is shot into the sky and the world is meant to get into the spirit of the season and keep it up until the year’s end. It’s an energy that also brings up a lot of expectation. We expect to eat turkey, ham (or tofurkey) and pumpkin pie, green beans with crunchy onions made with mushroom soup, see friends, see family, get along, have too much dessert, drink way too much, be grateful share the joy and celebrate. Some of us also expect to then rush to the stores and hopefully not get trampled for the special Black Friday sales where pretty much everything is slashed in price for this one special day.
Then we keep going to meet the demand of the next part of the season etc. etc. Consumerism at its finest.
There can be a lot of old stuff that gets triggered around now, old stories that play out even if we don’t want them. They are ours nonetheless- stories of belonging and not belonging, loving and rejection, understanding and denial, loss as well as celebration.
For some, it’s the beginning of a holiday of determination and ambition. Hence it can also be one of deep disappointment, bloating, argument and discomfort. It’s all quite the mix.
Of course I’m writing this having eaten one too many gluten free cupcakes myself restraining myself from checking out all the sales online for stuff I don’t need to add to the stuff I need to get rid of.
There are only so many glittery white bunnies and hedgehogs I can put around the house without appearing like a crazy person.
I was thinking of that today as I considered how many things have changed in my life since I made the commitment to surrender my need for certainty during the holidays.
I’ve always been disappointed when I let outer conditions determine how I would experience the season.
The minute I decide to be courageous and choose to be curious it’s amazing how everything changes.
So I’m wondering how you do around this time of year?
How are you affected?
How do your family stories play out for you?
Have you changed and if so how?
What if we all decided to adopt an attitude of curiosity for the entire season? NO expectation, no ambition, just choose to see each day as a gift that will reveal itself moment by moment as exactly as how it needs to be- an invitation for healing, love, and understanding? Each day we’d say “OOOO What’s in the box?” instead of “Did I get what I wanted?”
I think there really is a case for curiosity here. It works when we don’t try to predetermine our experience, and keeps us so strongly resonant in each moment fully engaged with all our senses asking the moment to show itself to us anew.
When we’re curious we have choice. History doesn’t have to repeat itself. So I’m going to invite you to a one week Curiosity commitment, (which sounds so much more manageable than a month, yes?)
Let’s see how we all do this week. Remain curious about everything. Your daily mantras are “ I don’t know”, “ Let’s see”, “ I wonder”, “that’s interesting! And of course “OOOO What’s in the box?” Then if you’d like to tell us about it in the comment section, you can write every day, or just when you have your curiosity AH-HA moment, share it with all of us.
Betcha there’s a miracle waiting in them thar moments;)
Now that could be very, very interesting indeed!
BIG sparkly love from me,
Always
Colette!
UNIVERSAL ENERGIES VLOG
Christmas is always a sad time for me as a nurse for 25 years and when my Dad went into hospital he died. I felt and still feel I should have not taken him off the vent. But it was what he wanted. Colette, I just can’t get past it. It hurts every day and especially at x- mas as he was always here. I wish I knew he was ok. Thank you Patty
he would only want you to be happy honey it’s all they ever want on the other side – he would want you to make new memories. I’m sure of it. I understand though these echoes haunt us when something sad happens in the season especially when there is so much emphasis on family. I know it intimately. But they are only echoes of the past not a call to the present. Be here now and find a new way. xooxoxoxoxoo
Hello Colette
Thank you so much for this. It arrived at just the right moment. This angel has lost her sparkle and is feeling very flat. You spoke of consumerism and that is what I really and truly detest about Christmas. It’s 1 December and I’ve done nothing at all about anything to do with Christmas yet. I can’t seem too motivate myself to do anything today, even though I have a day off work therefore an opportunity to do lots of house type stuff but just can’t rustle up the magic of motivation. I am going to try to adopt your attitude of curiosity and wonder. I believe in miracles so let’s see… x
Already excited to approach the holidays this way! Thank you! No pressure….lets just see. Xoxo
I am on a journey of observation so this fits in perfectly. As I write this I am thoughtful of the way I observe myself in particular, usually with a “You f*ed it up again” or “You are so stupid, lazy, fat, ugly…” the list goes on and on. It basically boils down to “I am NOT enough.” A lie of my ego, I know but it is a story to rewrite since I have been taught this since I was a small child. So maybe today I can shift my approach, even for a second, to “I am so happy to receive this gift of awareness!” Or something like that. As they say it is all a matter of perspective 🙂
ohhh thats great, thank you…. bang on and helps me feel supported while trusting the path for self and there for assists in helping and guiding others!!! I am very grateful for your insights.
New York thats just the best…. I have no doubt you will be loved very much…I sooooo would love to be in New York again .OK that’s a part of my dream then, be in New York as a part of what I do at some stage over the next 2 years!!!!! Need some refining…….mmmm we shall see xxx
Hi Colette
I’m not a fan of Christmas any longer becuase of the consumerism and all kinds of plastic expectations we are supposed to have. Don’t get me wrong, I was crazy about Christmas when the kids were small and I got the chance to once again create the Christmases from my childhood. But what I wanted to say here and now is that you are such a sparkling soul and your energy really radiates! I want to thank you for the work you’re doing and it reaaly helps me to keep on with my work. We all need to shine as much as we can – to be like light houses – because the world is getting darker ( it’s perhaps cyclic as some people say ) and people like you are the world-transformers. So thank you and please, do not ever loose your lovely energy, smile and humor! You’re the best!
Much Love!
awww hug to you 😉
Colette! What a wonderful blog post – thank you so much. It is that simple, isn’t it? “What’s in the box?” “How will Life avail itself to me today and how can I participate?” I have to add that I am so bummed – and I don’t like to engage that feeling! – that the one time you’re in my ‘hood of NYC I have to be at work. Sigh…well gratitude flows for this part-time, well-paying job where I am loved and appreciated for my talent that I just got and gratitude that we have the Internet. And gratitude because it’s all a spiral, 3-D labyrinth.
Good morning, Colette!!!
Thank you so much for the visual of the cannon of glitter being shot in the sky! I LOVE it!!! I would like to share that while the energies have been inundating us all year long I think I finally get it! LOL Yeah, it takes me a little while to be sure. 🙂
For pretty much most of my life I have “suffered” during the holidays…trying to be someone everyone wanted me to be, trying to please everyone, keep the peace, etc. Yes, and coming to terms with the fact that there is a very large victim inside me at times; getting smaller all the time. This year as I have meditated and sought to be true to myself and find my path I went into this Thanksgiving with my family with NO expectations! I made that conscious choice and whenever an old pattern would try to rear its head, I would quickly change the thought process. I’m actually quite pleased with myself that I recognize the old patterning so quickly these days!
I went over to my sister’s house with 3 pies in tow, pumpkin, pecan, and apple crumb. They were ugly pies as my oven wasn’t working properly and I allowed myself to be happy about the fact that I was able to donate to the meal in my own way. You know what? I had a FABULOUS time! I haven’t laughed that hard or had so much fun with my family in a very long time. I arrived at around 10:30am EST and left at 4:30pm! Longest time I’ve spent with them all since I was a kid! As I drove home I realized how much I have changed…even on a daily basis! I am so very grateful and Thankful for being here during this time of great change for us all and being able to look at the old me, smile, love it and let it go!
While I understand where Sparkle Angel is coming from because I, too, have not found that old Christmas Spirit, I have decided to allow myself to just BE here in this time and this energy, without expecting myself to get all pumped up about the consumerism. I send huge amounts of healing energy out to anyone who might need it or want it, so that this holiday season will be the best ever for everyone! Including me! 🙂
Love to all!
Kim
love this !
I have been participating in holiday hoopla by inspiration, one day at a time. I love the curiosity for each day of “what’s in the.box?” I have also observed where for instance my husband gets triggered and then he tries to bring me in to a story. And how I have been able to observe the energy at play in the moment. How it feels sticky and magnetic, thick and gooey realizing I find step back a few feet literally I can “safely” observe and decide to play in the situation differently. It’s uncomfortable and n@ked feeling chose ing the unfamiliar. I start hearing phrases in my head to feed my insecurities in this space. I then support myself by reminding myself where I presently am physically. And allowing myself to giggle in joy or to cry if that what my body is desiring to express. I choose to honor my husband’s story as I honor myself in living out a new moment. Although I may feel separate from him it is in this moment I have faith in “love” that is greater than words or I look to my heart center of my body and trust it is all there and here is where the connection to him and pulse of the season reside.
beautiful …
thank you! enjoy decorating and making new memories in your new house:)
for me, yes making big changes as I just hit the big 50. really thinking about all you always discuss, where am I on my Map and where am I heading and where do I want to be and doing. Last 3 weeks got back to my roots, my meditation , Qi Gong, Tai chi classes which are like food for my soul. better nourishment than turkey, or gifts from stores, etc. Practicing 20 years on and off, but going back has reminded me that the “on” time is way better as I experience myself and life in such a better way. for me, honestly, waking up to the cards you pull, the words you write, and sunday nights or monday mornings when I see your weekly forecast, it’s a feeling that I anticipate “oooo, what’s in the box” every little thing you say or write, the cards you pull, it all is perfectly aligned to what I am experiencing, needing to hear, and helping me in ways that are brilliant. I adore you Colette. You are the gift to me that I cherish .
love, Irene (gardenia on FB)
big blessings 😉
Christmas died Dec. 21st 2009 with our son. Will this be a Christmas? Maybe because there is Tessa Great Grand child. and as she puts it at 5 1/2 I am you Asset! And she is. So will give Christmas a try at resurrection. Cheers T.K.
what you feel is best .. sorry for your loss and glad for your Tessa! She is so lucky to have you 😉
I arise each morning with Gratitude and ask “I wonder what Miracles will happen today?” It is exciting to think about your day in this manner!!!
Colette, I so very much enjoy reading your blog!!! Thank you for your words of Wisdom and your humor!!! xo Jana
Please include closed captions on many videos. I’m deaf who not able to hear words.
Cheryl I will have my team look into this I don;t know how to do that as of yet
Hi Colette: Just had to share with you: I live in Hawaii but am visiting my family in Colorado. The other morning I drew my Daily Oracle Card and it was The Message. Later that day my daughter and I were in Monument, CO and we went into a charming metaphysical book store. I noticed they had several sets of Oracle cards by various sources. I mentioned to my daughter that I really like your cards – just then the owner said “Oh, there is one series of Oracle cards you’ll really like – they’re by Colette Baron Reid and she is just amazing!
My daughter and I smiled at each other then I noticed one CD sitting on the counter entitled “Butterfly” which just happens to be my favorite spiritual messenger. Life is so amazing and so are you! Thanks for all you contribute to my life!
Thanks Colette,
I needed to hear this reading this week! I have been feeling discouraged with all the back and forth movement.
Oh, Colette, I love this idea! As soon as I read your words about letting go of my holiday expectations and just being curious and open to it, the whole thing actually started to feel as if I was standing in a place full of sparkles! And how could you know that this year especially I am being drawn to the idea of a simple, old-fashioned kind of holiday when the love and thoughtfulness that went into a present was more important (and more appreciated) than the present itself. When the, “I wonder what’s in the box” held more excitement and happiness than the actual object. If only we could live each and every day just like that! So I accept your challenge with a grateful heart and the excitement of a 5 year old on Christmas morning … I wonder what’s in the box for me this year? Blessings, and, of course as always, you rock!
Colette .. I loved the blog and the reading for the week .. thank you .. Lisa
I have said it before and I will say it again, I truly enjoy starting the week off with your blogs…and I love being called a Sparkly being one of my nicknames is SPARKLES and I love it ….who doesn’t want to Sparkle? and I personally love anything that Sparkles….
I adore the holidays!! LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing my nephew experience Christmas though the magical eyes of a child. The holidays are not really that’s stressful for me.
This Holiday Season is a bit odd for me and I am trying to not let the outer conditions get me to far down….because o boy could this get dark….
My husband and I are in a difficult/interesting place far away from home as we chose to move recently to another state for the music scene 🙂 we are musicians YAY! ….our belongings are gone (which is freeing and awesome!!!), we totaled our vehicle almost a month ago in our new state, no jobs, no money….an expensive apartment we currently cannot pay for….. and now my gradnmother who is very Special to me, who I Love so deeply, fell down the stairs the day before thanksgiving and is hooked up to machines in a hospital in NY 1,704 miles away and we have no way home….I worry a lot about her, this piece of my heart, Exacerbating my worry/sadness is a lucid dream/ vision I had the morning before my loved one had this unfortunate accident….My aunt, her daughter, who has passed came to me again (she visited just after her crossing over I think i shared that in another comment section) and what she showed me makes so much sense now and it has me so sad and worried ….I don’t even want to describe the vision as I am so afraid of the meaning..
These outer conditions are of course effecting the holiday season for me…gifts are not important and my hubbs and I will enjoy the Holiday anyway Together , Thank God, without exchanging gifts, without family etc ….. I have a romance ,like many, with Christmas as the consensus is that this time of year is a magical time…I like living in that bubble where for a little while Miracles are more accepted and people are more receptive….
I can be curious this week ….and hold on to hope…its frustrating at times..but overall I am thankful for each day and that my husband and I are alive …after-all we were going about 40/50mph and went through a red light totaling our car and everyone walked away …that’s a miracle right there…
The start to this Holiday season has been difficult but I am willing to remain open…and hopeful more miracles will come our way ..I am thankful for your Blog Colette for infusing positivity and light into this week 🙂 a great reminder for me to stay centered
amber
Colette your awesome
xoxo
I really needed this today! Not only do we have Christmas, which I have always loved, but I am turning 30 tomorrow and moving to a whole new place far away from everyone I know and we are doing that the week before Christmas. All these things have me completely freaking out! It’s our first Christmas away from family and the first time we have moved so far away. I am excited about it and it will be a great opportunity for us but I’m just a bit terrified!! I never even considered being curious about what each day would bring. I’ve instead been making myself sick with stress, worrying about how the move will all work out and how can we make this Christmas special for our two little boys without all the family around. I guess I really need to take a step back and just let it all happen how its supposed to! Thanks so much for the fresh perspective!!
You know, everyday is Christmas to me! Maybe it’s because of all that I have recieved. The breath, the silence, the conversation, the touch, the comfort, the joy, the tears, the childhood, the middle age, the support, the lesson, the desire, the creation, the warmth, the cold, the wet, the taste, the moon, the owl, the dogs, the flame, the music, the Angel, the family, the heritage, the story, the rainbow, the Chief, the remission, the cure, the dentist, the sparkle, the old, the new and chance to take it all in. Wrap it up, I’ll take it!
yup… yup and yup
. . . He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say,
That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day!
And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light,
And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!
And he, HE HIMSELF! The Grinch carved the roast beast!
-Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) 1957
love this !
Perfect!
Personally, dear one… I LOVE the sparkle being thing… Makes me smile. 🙂 <3
Thank you Colette for “re-minding” me. Enjoyed reading the comments especially Dr. Seuss.
Maybe if we focus on just noticing the interconnectedness of the world around us; we might
begin to understand that we really need very little and what we truly need, source will provide.
When we truly appreciate what we have; then it is redundant to seek something outside to
fill the empty places in our souls. From my experience it has never worked. So maybe we
could think of circulating LOVE. Here is a definition that I read from Dr. Scott Peck; The
Road Less Travelled. “Love is the will to extend one’s self to nourish ones’ own personal
or spiritual growth; or that of another person. ” That could mean a gift; but the most meaningful
gifts are caring; listening; understanding, sharing; celebrating all of which do not come in a box.
Time is a gift that we think is disposable and so much of it is spent mindlessly tethered to technology
rather than being present with those we love and care about. It only takes a moment to make a phone
call to say that you are thinking of someone. Hold the door open for someone rather than letting it close
in their face; notice people around you. Be GRATEFUL and you will feel FULL in a way that “presents” cannot
offer. Our PRESENCE is the best gift we can share. We cannot replace those closest to our hearts; so why not
let them know that they are dear to our hearts and of course it takes time and thought to select an appropriate
gift for someone; however; the most valued gifts come from the heart; not the department store. XOXO
such a beautiful post Renee 😉
I love this! One of my favourite lessons from Course in Miracles is “I do not know what this is for” and your blog reminds me of this teaching…if we can keep an open heart, we do not limit what can happen by our interpretations or expectations, then more wonderfulness can pour in from the Universe, from Spirit.
Thank you Colette, for reminding us that we ARE the Light.
XO Shelley
I love your song at the end of your videos. I know it is by you but I do not know the name of it. p.s. you are sparkly too 🙂
thank you so much 😉 ! it’s called Coming Home and I wrote if for my husband. Or it might be Fortunate Ones from my first album Magdalene’s Garden.
It is the the one L Travelling down the road I didn’t know I was lost…
Is it on an album? I really love what I have heard of it. You have a beautiful voice.
Aww thanx! It is my song I am singing it it’s called Coming Home and it’s on my CD I am/ Grace on EMI music . I wrote it for my husband when I met him.
Thank you, Sparkly Collette, for this timely and very relevant Christmas message. I was asking this morning for divine guidance on releasing “old stuff” that creeps in to block my way. “Lesser than,” in many disguises, seems to be the continuing lesson. I have gotten better at not reacting to it, but in turn tend to internalize.
I just became aware that our two standard poodles, Sweet Adeline and Jack, are stretched out next to me and blissfully asleep. Oh, blessed doggie love! Maybe I am a sparkly being after all
yes if we could only love ourselves as much as our dogs do 😉
I so LOVE the Christmas season! My father was a rotund Santa’s helper, he always took pride in his appearance and even when he passed and the funeral home went to pick him up and the young man saw him and said, “I am honored to take Santa back home.” I have such fond memories of helping Santa on Christmas eve, we picked a needy family and Santa paid a visit to their home with food and toys for the children, it was so rewarding to see the little eyes light up when they opened the door. I love that my father gave me those sweet memories. Christmas with my own kids used to be a stressor, buying the gifts, hiding the gifts and being up until 3-4 am putting things together and wrapping presents on Christmas eve, but the happy appreciative squells of surprise made it all worthwhile. I am older now and I got my presents wrapped and under the tree on Dec 2, so much easier! I am grateful that I so many fond memories of this special holiday season.
Beautiful article Colette!
Colette… I loved the blog , your awesom !!!!!
Hi, I’m Heather my bday is 11-11-1970 I was amazed when I listened to your book tonight about the numbers 11 11 I’ve always wished on that time of day every day I would see it on the clock and I’ve always been able to predict things all throughout my life but never have any controlling on when it happens and all. I want to say I enjoyed listening to your book. I bought it last night. Thanks for having this website too it fits all my family perfectly even the one that just walked away from us before the holidays . I’m worried but I’ve got my head up high I’m trying to be happy but wish it didn’t turn out this way. Anyway thanks for a good read I enjoyed reading it an plan on buying more of you books