I flipped through holiday catalogs the other day on a road trip.  The beautiful, shiny and glossy pictures of things I-don’t-own-but-should-want had the opposite effect than what the advertiser intended, I am sure.  Looking at the lovely things made me crave my own holiday treasures.  The items that appealed to me most on the catalog pages are similar to things I already have.  So, I am looking forward to my own treasures.

     I worked with a client last year who was dreading the decorating process. She enjoyed it, mostly, but the idea of her 20 bins of Christmas stuff scattered all over her basement and living room seemed so daunting.  I advised her to open one bin at a time, take out only the items she wanted and place those in her home, and then put the bin away.  One bin at a time.  Control the flow of chaos.

     I tried that myself last year, too, and it worked really well.  So today, I pulled out the first bins from my own crawl-space and opened the first box of decorations!  I will shop in my own Christmas bins, select only the items I want, the ones that fit my mood, and put the rest away.  Most importantly, I want the Advent items, our Nativity and Advent Calendars, and our outdoor Christmas lights out this week.  The rest can wait!  The house will look pretty, we can enjoy the minimalist attitude and my kids will be ecstatic when we put the tree up in a few weeks, just to prolong the fun!  It’s all good!  And, of course, after the holidays, I will re-assess what I did not put out this year and decide if I want to get rid of it.

    Enjoy this first week of Advent, of Waiting, and get a handle on your decorating.