Tis the season of giving and I love it dearly, but this particular season has highlighted another dimension to giving for me. I don’t mean the piles of presents under the tree, which were all truly lovely, thank you santa, but the quieter gifts, the unexpected, the tokens given directly from the heart, and all in the form of real post.
At the end of rather an exhausting day in December, I came home to find a parcel from my dear friend Lis. I am sure she will blush as she reads this, but she is an amazing joy warrior. She leads with inspiration and with an incredible way of reaching out to the world. I am in awe of her selfless kindness to others and as I opened my package, I felt really honoured that she had taken the time and energy to think of me. I felt special. Inside the package lay a pair of self knitted gloves in gorgeous shades of purple- love at first sight, needless to say. She had also included some of her newly printed artwork cards, each one authentic, so her. The troubles of the day seriously washed away as I sat smiling.
As if that wasn’t enough feeling special, I received a package addressed to The Amazing Milena Widdowson a couple of days later. I can honestly say that I have never read the word amazing in front of my name before and I was smiling yet again before I had even opened my post. It was from a truly lovely Soulodge sister, as part of a giveaway project I am part of. We were all to re-gift something that served us well but that we are ready to let go of, ready to give to someone else to benefit from. Inside was the smoothest pebble of the darkest blue; truly beautiful. I sat for a long time with it in my palm, it fitted perfectly. I was amazed that someone had chosen to give something so beautiful to me. I looked through it and loved the way it turned my world into hues of blue. A totem can do so much. With it there was also a note, written by this lovely woman who I don’t know at all, wishing me so many lovely things with the totem she had sent. I felt humbled.
The third gift of real post was one I initiated myself, the gift lying not only in the message for the receiver, but in the openness and clarity that my own heart felt as I wrote. I wrote to my oldest friend. She is in each childhood memory, each smile, each tear. Before I met her I used to dream of a kindred spirit, as Anne of Green Gables would say, and I found her. Yet as is so often the case, life moves on, directions part, the hours are too busy. There are many good intentions, lots of thoughts saved for later. And so our friendship over time became a quieter one.
As I sat thinking about this yet again one quiet Sunday afternoon, I asked myself if this is how I really wanted things to end, with an odd email here and there, a meeting once a year if we both were able to commit to it, the threat of us becoming strangers.The answer was a resounding no, for life is so precious. And so I wrote a letter of memories, of how I missed her, of how special she is. Like so often the first step is the most difficult, but now there is hope again. I love the idea of making someone feel special by good old fashioned mail. I may very well sit down often this holiday period and write some real letters, seal in them in real envelopes and let them flutter into the world.
