DO NOT VACUUM THE NEEDLES (TOO WELL) AFTER THE HOLIDAYS

don't you worry about a poor clean-up job after the Holidays — more important is keeping the cheer up. Positive spirits are the flashlights when the lights dim. 

by Rik Raats (Photo by Elliott Day)

The pure essence of the Christmas magic shouldn't necessarily vanish with the clean-up after the Holidays. Neither should the promising cheer of New Year be forgotten too soon. So it might help to cut the corners while tidying up. The essence of Christmas reflects our innate talent to make a difference. So it won't hurt to keep a bit of the period in which we expose our best of intentions. We people have the conjuring gift of writing our future. Because what we imagine, share and agree upon becomes a concrete reality. This human gift is like a beacon of light in times with warnings and dark clouds on the horizon. 

Our common dreams can make us people realize the impossible. It's a power of much greater force than our individual hunting instincts and our selfishness. Common beliefs are born by sharing them. With the miraculous wonder of a smile, a compliment, a good conversation we can turn a bus ride into a flight home without taking an airplane. 

True success is found in creating something worth believing. It can unfreeze almost every Grinch. Although the grumpy won't admit it, emotional warming is a process that starts from deep inside. So don't give up too fast after repeated and devastating cold encounters. It may take a while before the right vibes kindle the inner stove that slowly pierces the first signs of warmth through the massive exterior of their fortresses with hidden hands and locked up frozen faces like pulled-up drawbridges at wartime. Behind their high walls and broad moats they might take in more than their expression reveals. 

Giving is achieving — and the warmth of the heart is the most powerful energy to build our tomorrows. For sure in the cold and bleak economical weather that is loudly forecasted. 

I know, this may read naive, and the recent Christmas Holiday period may be embedded in our Western culture with sugarcoated harmonies, but in a cold world there's nothing wrong with finding our warmest intentions and sharing them to the best of our abilities. This, followed by wishing our fellow man prosperity and high hopes is instrumental to awaken our most wonderful ability; lifting each other up.  This world is in need for human greatness towards each other — also long after the tree clean-up.

Often we people are like the needles — even the coarsest, sharpest specimen can become the warmest comforting bedding. So, don't you worry about a poor clean-up job after the Holidays — more important is keeping the cheer up. Positive spirits are the flashlights when the lights dim. 

Rik Raats

(Photography by Elliott Day)