Christmas Lights
One of my favourite things to do during the Christmas season is to go on Christmas light walks. Some houses do nothing. Some houses do something simple. Some houses do something extravagant. A few nights ago, I looked around my neighbourhood and took photos of some of my favourite light displays.
I have so many good memories of Christmas light walks, especially with my cousins.
A couple of Christmases ago, I was walking around the neighbourhood with my brother, six cousins, all boys, and my aunt and uncle. We started singing Christmas carols in obnoxiously loud voices, and when we reached my house, we sang Jingle Bells so loudly and terribly my parents heard us from the other end of the house.
On that walk, we didn’t focus on the lights very much. Apart from a massive Christmas tree that we took it upon ourselves to climb into.
Another favourite thing to do on Christmas light walks is to look at the lights through Holiday Specs. Seeing snowmen, santas, reindeers, elves, candy canes and stars on each glowing light is so much fun! They even work on car lights.
Looking through these glasses can be fun, but if there are too many lights, all of the images blur together. It’s better to have a simple string of lights.
Some people are comfortable with extravagancy and can easily put on an excessive show. Yes, it might be entertaining, but it often makes me feel upset because I can’t meet those “standards”. Everything turns into a blur and I get completely overwhelmed.
Although not always the case, in a lot of circumstances, simple is better. You don’t have to display the most creative Christmas lights on the street. You don’t need to make the cutest Christmas biscuits (cookies!). You don’t need to bring the best Christmas gift to Secret Santa.
And I will admit that my house does not have any lights on the outside, but a Christmas tree is twinkling red, green, yellow and blue inside our house.
These words have probably been repeated over and over, but ‘it’s what’s on the inside that counts’ is worth repeating. I know I seem to forget that concept over and over. This Christmas, I’ll try to remember that I am not what my Christmas decorations portray. Every Christmas decoration is contributing light and joy to the community. Even the simple strings of lights, and the Christmas tree inside the house.
To add something fun on the end, I spotted these Australian animal lights. Not a great photo, but the two on the left are kangaroos and the two on the right are emus!
