So one day, into my holiday-free zone, completely unsuspecting, walks my buddy, Ted. Ted is a great guy -- he's a buddy from my bagpipe band days who enjoys playing his bagpipes, coffee -- lots of it, his wife and son and their menagerie, camping, gadgets. Ted is not a guy who is typically burdened by the world-weary musings that plague me. One of Ted's biggest passions is turning his house and yard into an extravaganza of synchronized lights and music for the holidays.
Poor Ted; there came the day when he, in all innocence, began to tell me all about his newest additions to his Trans-Burlington hoopla, ending with, "Don't you just love the holidays?" I, of course, proceeded to tell him everything I thought was wrong with them. At the end of my monologue, with an understandably dumbfounded expression on his face, Ted quietly said, "Oh, I hadn't really thought of all that. I guess you're right. But all I want to do is make people smile."
I realized in that moment that I had been missing something important. Perhaps if I peeled away all the commercials, the long lines for gifts that will soon be forgotten, frayed tempers and everything that drives me crazy about the holidays, I would see, that at the core of everything, everyone is trying to give birth to a smile.
I can't say that this new perspective has completely changed my feelings about the holidays, but it has made me grateful for Ted and what he taught me. Ted will send me a link to his holiday creation this year, as he does every year, and it will make me smile. And it will remind me that every year, at Festival of Lights, I am graced with the opportunity to participate in making someone forget whatever their particular troubles are, even if for just a quick moment -- and smile.
Maybe this year, it will be you. Pass it on.......
