S8EP8: The Best Christmas Ever

Hey, gang! Welcome to my life – where anything is possible and nothing is as it seems. I’m Freedom and I’ll be your host, coming at you from within the depths of Geistopia.

DOC: Velcum To My Life ees a prochect, un experiment in Life unt ART. A living storyboard, if you will. Its premise ees zat life ees experiential, unt zat you can, unt do, experience ze life you choose. It ees based on Ze Veel of Life unt Ze ARTs for Ze New Millennium as life building tools. Ja, it’s true!

WALT: Welcome to my Life is an I T.V. Studios/Geist…House Players Production, in association with the Center for Creative Inspirationalism. JustUs Productions, the parent company, would like to give a ‘Shout-Out’ to the following for their ongoing, and oft-times unknowing, inspiration and support:

Princess Cuddlebug

Princess Sunshine

Company

The Shaman

The Pillar

F’n Bob

The Entire Putt-Putt-Putter Clan

The Warden

FaeriePrincess

Professor Siggy Chong

Sparky Wentz-eclaus

The VanMan and General Ralph Glossop, and Craze (may they R.I.P.)

The Messengers of The Galactic Federation

Looch

The Bassett Hound

Bert-On

The Baker of the Cornbread

Andy Pandy

The Mudder

Zason

St. Diane & You (3)

Brother John & Sister Jen

Spooky Queen

Boom-Boom Snuffbox

The Nameless One

Tim-Bo

The Cousins

The Rox

PDT

Sir Richard Slouch

The Wix-ians

The Socialite

The Village of Idiots

Piz-Niffer

Dancing Queen

Downtown Encyclopedia Brown

Chicken Witch

Dick Pointer

Soup, the Son

The Legendary Pink Elephants

Baby-Mama Rabbit

Wisconsin Belle

The Babes

Aaaand, of course, a very generous sponsor who (not-so-much) wishes to remain anonymous.

It is…Sunday, December 25, Two-Thousand and Twenty-New. Time...Celebrating

No Trinity this week. I am living in a haze and just can’t put it together.

The Post

It is once again that time of year. My favorite time of the year. The Day of Days.

I don’t know what it is about this day. Why it carries so much energy. Of course, some would immediately say, “Because it is the our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born.”

Except…it’s not.

It is the day we observe it – and have for a very long time. But, it is not actually the day he was born. It makes me wonder if the day carries so much energy simply because we have long associated it with The Christ, or if the Romans actually knew what they were doing when they put it on this day. Like there is some greater mystery we have yet to unveil.

My statements are not meant to argue The Christ out of Christmas, nor downplay the power and significance of The Christ. I have great reverence for The Christ. That is why I choose to keep it real. My viewpoint on the matter is that The Christed one Jesus the Nazarean did certainly exist. He was as great as we believe. He was not what we think. And he was more than what we know.

Nonetheless, this is his day and this day has power. It is unlike every other day of the year. It is as if the world is blanketed in something. It is the same each and every year. I never noticed it until I stopped doing things on this day. I put an end to the running around and the commotion and the commitments. It has become a day for me…and Spirit.

For many years I did nothing but game and watch movies. For a while, I took to cleaning Olde Geistopia while it was vacant. The last two years I just…existed. I had no plans or schemes. Just a day to be. I has become a very important day to me.

I think it breaks my heart, and my soul, just a little bit that all over the world people deny themselves the magicks just because of a word – a belief system. I get it. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. Everyone has their thing. In order for one person’s thing to be right someone else’s must apparently be wrong.

Here’s the thing – The Christ doesn’t care if you’re Christian. [Christians care if you are Christian.] The Christ doesn’t discriminate. It is what it is and does what it does. It is accessible to each and every one of us and works the same for everyone. All you have to do is ask.

Still, Spirit recognized the challenges that such ignorance can beget, upped its game, and gave birth to The Old Man. Such an iconic representation of everything this time of year is about – everything Spirit is about. [And, of course, my particular favorite.]

Just like the Christ, The Old Man does not discriminate. He does not care if you are male or female. He does not care what the color of your skin may be or what races run through your genetic code. And, he most certainly does not care if you are Christian or Muslim or Jewish or Wiccan or Buddhist. He is accessible to all and works the same for everyone. All you have to do is ask.

This was a very particular Christmas indeed. It was one like none other before it. Well, not so much Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve. Of course, Christmas Eve would be when Christmas Day starts for me anyway. But, then, that’s a horse of a different color isn’t it?

The evening was magickal and powerful and almost overwhelming. The journey getting there was just as intense, if not more so.

The week was very typical of any Yule. It started fairly ordinary. By the end it was a maze of tasks and projects. Balancing each and juggling all into completion at one very distinct point. In true Old Man fashion, everything was very last minute. Some of this was due to finances, some due to timing. But, most of it, was just because I am not allowed to know what is actually happening until it is time for me to know.

Cuddlebug asked me why I don’t start earlier. I answered, “Because that’s not how it works.”

It has been this way for as long as I can remember now. 20 years. For 20 years it has worked the exact same way. Year after year after year. I have just come to accept and expect it. In fact, I told someone on Monday evening that my week was about to get very intense and there would be a few nights of little, or no, sleep. She, too, questioned why. I smirked ever so slightly. Shook my head just a bit and said, “because that’s just the way it goes this time of year.”

Every year since I met The Old Man, I have received a list of gifts to make and or deliver. It has varied over the years, but much of it has been a focus on handcrafted items of all shapes and sizes. Many things have been decorative. Some have been practical. Still others have been a little bit of both. But, something they all have in common, a thread to hold them together, is that each item was imbued with just a little bit of magick.

Everything has always been designed and executed to both invoke and evoke particular energies. Bear in mind that I have nothing to do with any of this. I merely take what I am given and build what I am told – to specification.

As the years went on, The List would shift a bit and my assignments would become more experiential. I was to deliver a message, help a person in need, share in a moment. And, of course, there would always be other [more ordinary] gifts – books or movies or whatnots. [Also bearing the markings of magick.]

No matter form these assignments have taken over the years, it always amazes me how precise and perfect each one truly is – from conception to delivery and reception. It has become a Divine experience for me.

So this is how this year’s Christmas unfolded…

The first gift I was to make, I actually was are of a few months ago. The Princesses had gone through some of my crafting stuff and found beads and pendants and such. In that collection was a tie-dyed mushroom pendant. Cuddlebug wanted it and I told her, “Maybe.”

I knew immediately that I was going to wrap a necklace for her. I thought, perhaps, for her re-birthday. However, I just did not have that kind of time. So, it moved to Christmas. Still, I had no clue exactly what I was going to do. I didn’t know what knot I wanted to use or what colors or beads. It took some time but I finally put something together in my head. [Vaguely.]

What I didn’t realize at the time is that it was all stalling so that I could discover that I was also wrapping a necklace for Sunshine. This happened when I bought sage at a store and needed an additional item to meet the minimum card requirement. This turquoise skull pendant jumped out at me and I knew it was hers.

I had the pendants. Now, I needed to find my supplies – my books, and hemp and beads. I needed to see what I had and what I could work with. The answer was nothing. I had stuff. I just had nothing with which I could work. There was an image in my head of what I was shooting for.

Next, I had to get to the hobby store to find what I thought I needed. It took a while, but finally about two weeks ago I was able to figure out how to fund that. I found packages of strings and some beads. I now had a plan. What I didn’t have was time. Wrapping is something you really have to devote time to. There can’t be a lot of interruptions or distractions. So, there it all sat.

Meanwhile, other things were developing. The sale of the house was being delayed again. So, I would be staying at The Original Brother John’s through the holiday. This changed the game board quite a bit. The List grew.

I was to invite my mother to join us for dinner. Of course, inviting my mother also meant inviting my sister. Both of these are really big deals. Of course, this would create quite a puzzle for me to assemble. I needed food and drink and dessert. I needed utensils for eating and for serving. I needed things to cook in and things to serve on. I needed chairs enough to sit in.

I was also assigned more crafting.

As I was going through storage boxes I had come across wine bottles that I snagged from The Theatre earlier this year. They were both very unique. The girls and I had discussed their potential as incense burners. And, so they would be. However, I needed to find my glass drill bit and to get stained glass paints and to figure out how I was going to etch without my rotary tool.

I would find a glass bit. It was not the one I was looking for – the one I know I saw only a week ago. I remember because I thought, “There’s the bit I need for the bottles.” The one I found was brand new. Still in its packaging. It was given to me by The Putter. It was also very different than any I had used previously. I was nervous. So I found a test bottle. [Also very unique.]

After I cut a perfect hole in it, The Voice would whisper, “Well, now you have three bottles. Might as well make that one for your mom and sister.” That would mean it was going to be something Christmas themed. My mother always gets something Christmas. It’s her thing and she and my sister decorate together.

Both mom and Cuddlebug’s bottles would be done with stained glass paints because they were clear. Sunshine’s was going to be etched. I’ve never really etched before. Once upon ago, I etched a few stencils onto some bottles but I never tried anything on my own. In fact, I have a whole set of rotary bits for etching that I have never used. I had no clue what each bit did – how it cut. I also needed to find a rotary tool. My big one broke at Hoagie’s. I do have a small lightweight one, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be powerful enough.

On top of the gifts to make, there were a few little ones to buy – incense and such. I had a dinner to plan and prepare, so there was food to get. Then I realized I needed cookware and serving utensils and extra plates. I was in and out of the same three stores about three times this week.

I had to clean and set-up for dinner guests.

All the while, I was maintaining my regular schedule – out in the morning until after lunch. A small break in the afternoon for resting and miscellaneous errands or tasks. Then back out for as much of dinner as it would take to make my day.

It took me a bit to realize it, but this was all part of The List. It was all taking shape very precisely. With each step, the vision of the night was taking shape, becoming clearer. There were magicks in the night that I still do not understand.

Nonetheless, by Thursday morning all the pieces had come together. I don’t mean that things were done. I simply had everything I needed to get things done. They say hindsight is 20/20 and as I sit here typing this out – recalling it all – I can see how it was always planned that way. Everything happened Precise & Perfectly Placed for me to be ready to go Thursday morning. I had all my grocery shopping done. I did it early in the week so I could avoid any mad rushes. I had all the miscellaneous whatnots that I needed to tweak the night into place.

The problem was that I still had so much to do. I had started the incense bottles but they were a time involved process. I would have to put the pint on one side and then wait for it to dry. I had to go over each side multiple times as I faked my way through the projects. I had the hemp cords measured and cut and ready but I still needed to wrap and bead. I started tweaking the house into shape but still needed to do a good cleaning. And, as I said, I was still trying to work…until Thursday morning.

There was winter weather on Thursday and into Friday morning. At times it was just rain. Other times it was a bit of sleet and freezing rain. There was even some snow in there. The sleet and freezing rain came first and that is what took me off the roads. I had gone out to work that morning. I got two orders in before the weather came. At that point, I made my last few stops for this or that and headed home.

The problem with all of this is that I had just spent a great deal of money over the previous few days and I needed to work to pay for it. This haunted me throughout Thursday and there were many times I would start to convince myself that I would go out on the road again and the Christmasing would wait. Each time, The Voice would say, “Don’t worry about it now. Deal with it on Sunday night.” Eventually, that is exactly what I resolved to do.

On Thursday and Friday I repeated the same cycle over and over again. I would start with the stained glass bottles. I would do a round of paint and then carry the bottles into the living room to place in front of the pellet stove. [I was using it to expediate the drying process just a bit.] Then, I would sit down somewhere to work at wrapping necklaces. I would do this until it became so monotonous that my ADD could no longer tolerate it. If, at that point, I still could not do the next round of painting, I would clean something – this room, that floor. I would get up and start very early in the morning and I would go until I physically could not go any longer. I managed about 4 hours of sleep each night. That sleep would be my only down or idle time.

Even on Saturday I was up and at it early. I finished off the stained glass bottles and necklaces – just tweaking the finishing touches. I wrapped all the presents. I cleaned the rest of the house. I baked cookies. I saged the house. I even managed to finish the two loads of laundry I had started. I took a shower and got ready.

Eventually, I would get around to the etched bottle. I had saved this for last because I wanted it to get as much of my focus as it could. I had no clue what I was doing and I wanted it to look nice for her when I was done. So, when all the other crafts were complete I would finally sit down and take a stab at it. Again, I would have to work in stages – little bits at a time. In between I would work on the wrapping and the cleaning and such.

Finally, around 1330 on Saturday I would be able to steal away an entire half hour in which I could just sit. At 1400, I would begin with dinner preparations. In between stages of cooking, I would get the table set for dinner. Every place setting was the same. The standards, of course – a plate, utensils, napkins. But, on each plate was placed the following: 1 scratch-off ticket, 1 Powerball ticket, a quarter, and 3 chocolates. I had planned the scratch-offs in such a way that at least one of us should have won something. [I have a system.]

They arrived and dinner was ready. We ate and we chatted. There was coffee and dessert. The girls and I showed them around the house officially. They weren’t here much longer than necessary for dinner because they had their own Christmas dinner the next day that they still needed to prepare for themselves.

After they left, The Princesses and I exchanged our gifts. It was short, sweet and simple. Now, I had thought about convincing them to get up and take time to have coffee with me in the morning so that I could surprise them with Santa gifts and Stockings. However, when I first kinda hinted at it there was quite a bit of stink. Apparently, it was just going to mess with everyone’s morning. So, I just gave them those gifts on Christmas Eve. I am not at all happy about it going down that way. But it really was better than dealing with the tension and stress that would have developed from them needing to get up early.

Overall, the night was a success. There was good food, and conversation, and gifts, and moments and memories. It was a damn good Christmas. It was a Christmas like I have always imagined. But, here is what puts it at the top [and the moment you have all been waiting for, Fellow Travelers.]

I told you that Brother John and Sister Jen had decided to go the rental route with the house. I told you that I went to talk to them about renting it myself. I made my proposal – an unorthodox one to say the least. I left them to talk it over and headed to a middle school holiday concert. It was about a 15 minute drive from one point to the other.

Somewhere along the drive, at some traffic light or another, I sent Cuddlebug a text telling her that they were talking things over but I thought I had Brother John convinced. I no sooner sent that text and I received a message from Brother John that said, “We’re gonna do it. We’ll talk bout details later. For now just relax and enjoy your holidays.”

So, you see, Fellow travelers, not only did I host a good Christmas, I did it in my space – my home.

That is what made it The Best Christmas Ever.

Or, it was a good part of it anyway. After I took the girls home on Christmas morning, I came back to the house and first did a ritual soak. That was about a 2 hour process and very much needed. After that, I sat down to do some gaming. What I really ended up doing was just sitting. I spent a lot of time that day just sitting.

It was actually a very special moment for me. Not only was I in my own home, but I had finally accomplished something that I hadn’t been able to in so very long. Belle will tell you that there are two things I desire more than anything else in the world – Silence and Stillness. I had plenty of both on Christmas Day.

The Best Christmas Ever.

But wait…there’s more.

So, remember how I ended up with two days off to focus on Christmasing? I knew this was going to hurt me financially. I knew I would go negative. Turns out I even incurred some bank fees. Remember how The Voice whispered, “Deal with it on Sunday night.”

Here’s why.

First, the winning scratch off ticket was held by me. [This is interesting because as I set them out on the plates – before people arrived – I switched that ticket to my plate at the last moment.]

$50.

Mom gave me a card and in it was some cash.

$50.

A dear friend had sent me a gift on Christmas Eve morning through Paypal.

$100.

All of this money would cover the hole that was dug – plus some. Now, I know this is not what my mom nor my friend had in mind when they gave me the money. They wanted me to do something for myself, get something that I wanted. But, that’s just it. It did do something for me. It did get me what I wanted more than anything else. Because I knew I had these funds, I could relax and enjoy my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I could just drift through them with no guilt nor no fear.

The…Best…Christmas…Ever!

If you’re not already there, go to the Welcome to my Life Facebook page – WTML. Or the YouTube channel – WelcomeToMyLife08. You can also find me on Facebook under Rev. Matt.

Wherever you are and whenever you are – Like, Comment, and Share – we’re on a Journey and it takes you to get there.

So, without hesitation, for now and for always, from here in Geistopia, this is your beloved Rev…

WALT: And Walt…

DOC: Unt Doc…

JOHNNY: Aaaaand Johnny…

And those guys, saying, “Stay Tuned-In, Fellow Travelers,” and wishing you Peace, Love, Light…

WALT: And Freakishness, Baby.

The Totems & Archetypes

**from Ted Andrews’ Animal Speak**

No Totems this week.