{"id":370,"date":"2015-12-19T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-19T21:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/?p=370"},"modified":"2015-12-19T16:21:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-19T21:21:00","slug":"to-the-joys-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/?p=370","title":{"rendered":"to the joys of the season"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

just outside my window this morning, a sudden flash of wings and beside me lands a Cooper’s Hawk, instantly I feel blessed by his honouring presence, and of course his regal beauty – mere seconds later I am a little saddened realizing he has probably swooped down to snatch up an unsuspecting sparrow. \u00a0In this brief exchange of joy and sorrow, \u00a0I realize it is in me to choose .. \u00a0 \u00a0how to honour, \u00a0 this moment.
\nand so, \u00a0to you this day …<\/p>\n

Wishing you the joys of the season<\/em>, \u00a0it ‘s an expression often repeated and shared at this time of year,
\nand just what are these joys<\/p>\n

family, friendships, love, beauty
\npeace, generosity and
\npresence<\/p>\n

but for some, \u00a0family doesn’t always feel .. \u00a0like family, \u00a0and at times life can feel anything but peaceful
\nsometimes we can be gathered in by the sorrows of the season too
\nloss of loved ones, severed connections
\nfear, anger
\ncynicism and greed<\/p>\n

as always, to this, \u00a0it seems to me, \u00a0it is in us to choose<\/p>\n

to choose to honour \u00a0those family and friendships
\nthat continue to bless us,
\n… Unconditionally<\/p>\n

to choose not to give breath to unnecessary dramas
\nand words with sharp edges<\/p>\n

and instead to celebrate love and respect
\nfreely given
\nlovingly received<\/p>\n

to choose grace and gratitude over slights
\nand miscommunications<\/p>\n

to choose to see beauty and magic
\nin small simple gestures<\/p>\n

to greet smiles with
\nsmiles<\/p>\n

to meet pain
\nwith kindness<\/p>\n

and to comfort great loss
\nwith even greater Love<\/p>\n

and in all of this, to always open our hearts
\nto the ebb and flow
\nto the joys and to the sorrows<\/p>\n

and to be true, and honest
\nand gracious
\nin our choosing<\/p>\n

as I gather in, in this wondrous time
\nof giving
\nI do wish you the many \u00a0Joys of the season
\nI also wish you comfort in your sorrows
\nand always,<\/p>\n

I wish you \u00a0 Love
\nto endure,
\nto sustain,
\nto enrich<\/p>\n

and I will continue
\nto hold a place for you here
\nin my heart
\nso that you
\nmay freely come and go …<\/p>\n

as you choose \u2665<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  just outside my window this morning, a sudden flash of wings and beside me lands a Cooper’s Hawk, instantly I feel blessed by his honouring presence, and of course his regal beauty – mere seconds later I am a…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamara.tedzplace.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}