Thin Places

This week has been really eye opening for me. This holiday season has been really eye opening for me. I’ve spent so many years running around with my head cut off stressed out about the holidays and all that it entails. I use to think that the holidays were about gift giving and trying to find that something more that sparks us on the inside and makes our life more fulfilling just in time for the new year. However, this year, I’ve awakened to the opposite.

As kids in America, we’re basically trained to think about MORE during the holidays. Many of us are also taught that when this “more” doesn’t happen, we are lacking fortune in some way. For example, why is that we think it’s sad when a child doesn’t get any gifts on Christmas? We have learned to think this way because of the conditioned belief that everyone should get a present on Christmas. But why is that? If you’re not religious, then this is just another man-made holiday that has been invented for consumer profit.

However, if a child doesn’t receive gifts on Christmas, couldn’t that be a gift in itself? One day that child will grow up and be able to spoil themselves and the ones they love. Do you think their lack of gifts as a child will matter then? They may still feel that deeper feeling of loss that society has instilled in people during this time of year but there’s a small chance they’ll remember gifts.

There’s more to the holidays than gifts anyways, right? I mean, how about that natural rosey color we all get in our cheeks and on our noses? Or the laughter and joy vibrating from all the children around the world playing in the snow? How about the warmth in the hearts of those being cared for by others during the sicker months of the year? What about the thought of love and interest in those buying gifts for their loved ones? Or how about the enchanting truth that, in general, more exists and it is at our fingertips at any single moment of our lives?

Learning to focus on and be grateful for what I have and for the unlimited opportunities I continue to receive in my life has been a challenge. Mostly because living in the everyday grind can really mess with your thoughts and cause you to lose sight of the bigger picture. But I’ve learned how important it is to understand that it’s not about gaining something more in life during this time of year, it’s about enjoying that which already exists and being grateful for the presence (PRESENTS heh) and possibility of something more.

Christmas is a very spiritual time. Whether you believe in something deeper or you don’t, the undeniable and indescribable feeling of Christmas presence can be felt. Take the Scrooge for example 😂 In fact, there is this Celtic idea that originated in Ireland known as a thin place. Thin places are places where the boundary between the natural world and the supernatural one is more permeable, or thinner. It can be a physical place, states of being, circumstances and seasons such as the one we are in now. Christmas is a thin place; a time of year when even the most “cold-hearted” people think about what matters most —a Godly presence if you will.

To take it a step further in connecting to this greater vibration, a whole new year is approaching us —2020! It’s the year of love and compassion and damn do I feel it! Do you? Let’s stop talking about where we lack, and let’s start celebrating the simple gifts we receive everyday! Let’s keep ourselves open to all that is meant for us, shed that which no longer serves our highest selves and become the greatest version of our humans!

Stay kind my friends.

Until next time,

The Cope Dealer 🧠🍃