I’m on holiday break this week, but wanted to take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy and magical holiday. I hope that you get to tell your favorite stories, and make a few new ones.

May all your lights twinkle bright in 2012

Holiday Memories – Tell Your Story Tuesday

It’s the most wonderful time of year. Chestnuts are roasting, sleighs are dashing, candles are flickering and dreidels are spinning. People everywhere are filled with memories of holidays past…

And I want to hear about them!

As my regular followers know, I’ve been challenging people to tell me a story on Tuesdays. I haven’t found anyone brave enough to do it…yet…but maybe this is the inspiration they need. Tell me a story about your favorite holiday memories. They can be good, they can be bad. They don’t actually need to be yours! Just tell me a story.

I’ve told a few stories of my own (and a tall tale of sorts), and I’m willing to do it again to get the ball rolling.

Christmas was always a really big deal when I was growing up. A tree with lights and tinsel, and a train running through a snowy village underneath. As a kid I thought it was pretty magical. I guess I still do.

Image via Wikipedia

One of the best parts of Christmas was coming back from Christmas Eve services and getting to open one present. My mother would carefully look through what seemed like mountains of presents and to pick out one each for my brother, sister and I. We would carry them out to the living room and sit in front of the tree. While my dad filmed (8 mm back then) or snapped pictures and my mom looked on we would rip into this first taste of the presents to come.

It took years for us to realize that those Christmas Eve presents were always pajamas. Every year. Eventually my mom told us it was because she wanted us to look nice for the pictures Christmas morning. Every year she picked out three sets of holiday themed jammies and wrapped them up for us to open, and wear, on Christmas Eve.

I have to admit. At first, I thought it killed some of the magic. Those first gits we looked so forward to were all for show – and pictures.

Today, I’m the mother of two. At my house we have two post church service traditions. The first is the girls getting to each open one present containing, you guessed it, new PJ’s to wear to bed. (My husband even surprised me with my own new PJs the last couple of years). The girls know all about the pajama conspiracy and look forward to seeing what kind they’re going to get.

The second tradition is sitting down in front of the fireplace, eating a cookie or two, and reading “T’was the Night Before Christmas” while their daddy records video and snaps some pictures before joining us.

And, for a moment, we make our own Christmas Eve magic.

It’s your turn. There are some rules. You can find them, and other vital information here in my original post.

Now…tell me a story…

 

Related articles

• Writing About Christmas (socyberty.com)
• My Top 5 Christmas Memories (jessicapingle.wordpress.com)
• Christmas is.. (nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com)

May the 4th Be With You; Revenge of 5th

Happy Belated  Star Wars Day! (I wrote this last night but forgot to publish) I flew my sci-fi geek loud and proud yesterday. After all,  that galaxy far, far away not only introduced me to science fiction, it’s also where I found my calling.

A gift from a friend, my little Storm Trooper helps me edit.

It’s fascinating to me to see all the people who really do get excited about this kind of stuff. Let’s face it, it’s a little goofy. I’m sure that some would say more than a little. And that’s ok. What impresses me are the number of people who you see on-line that are all excited about it that you wouldn’t think would be. That or I just am naturally attracted to Star Wars fans. Either way, it’s fun.

I think what really makes me smile is the idea of community. Of shared knowledge and experience I have with people all over the world. We may have seen the movies at different times, and in different places. We may have differences of opinions on characters or  plot points, but we love the movies.

And sure, things like Star Wars Day are geeky, or nerdy, and maybe even lame. But for just a moment we get to recapture part of our youth. We get some of that feeling back we had when we were younger and more idealistic. Where you could tell the bad guys by the uniform they wore and the ship they flew. Where good defeats evil, where right defeats might – usually with a little help from the universe and some cool weapons.

Personally, I love that little jolt I get when I start thinking about movies like Star Wars. Not just that taste of nostalgia, which was just what the doctor ordered on a long Wednesday. For me it reconnects me with the reason I do what I do. Granted, corporate video is a far cry from the masterpieces that stole my heart, but it reminds me that I can make magic. I can still take bits and pieces of dialogue, graphics and video and turn them into something. I can use my version of the Force to make pictures move, change colors, and give people a voice.

No, I’m not going to go down in history for the projects I’m working on right now, and I’m ok with that. You see, I’m doing what I love. I’m making something out of nothing. This is what I dreamed of doing when I was a little girl sitting in that theater. It’s really easy to lose site of that when there are deadlines and clients, and headaches. But now and then a little something comes along, like the 4th day of May, and reminds me how cool it is that I do what I do. Dreams do come true. And that I still kind of want to be Leia when I grown up.