No Decorations on My Christmas Tree This Year

“Less is more.”

– Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Some Christmases are more festive-feeling than others…and that’s okay.

I was on the phone the other day, having a long-overdue chat with a dear friend. I also happened to be lying on my couch with a cup of tea, staring at my Christmas tree. In terms of decorating it, I had only got as far as putting on the lights. But the longer I looked at the tree, the more I liked it…just as it was.

Now, it might have been the mammoth pile of boxes filled with Christmas decorations that were sitting on my kitchen table, causing me to feel a tad overwhelmed at the enormity of the decorating task ahead—and kinda dreading it, truth be told.

But who hauls out all their Christmas decorations…and then doesn’t put them out?

Me.

But first, I ran the idea by the person I was on the phone with.

“Is it okay to not put any decorations on my Christmas tree this year?” I asked my friend. “I’m not really feeling it. I kinda like it with just the lights on.”

“Absolutely! It is a-okay not to decorate your damn tree! You can do whatever you want.”

She was right. So that’s exactly what I did. After our chat, I quickly pulled a few of my favourite decorations of the boxes…not ornaments for the tree but other stuff to put around my home. Then I put all the boxes back into the garage—feeling lighter by the load—and proceeded to decorate my home for Christmas in about ten minutes (versus the three hours it normally takes me).

Then I poured a glass of wine, sat back down again on my couch…and thoroughly enjoyed looking at the pretty lights on my elegantly simple, au-naturel Christmas tree.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Leonardo da Vinci

Which is when it occurred to me that I had, in fact, just made a very wise practical decision, as well. For my Christmas visitor this season will be a furry four-legged friend who goes by the name of Luffy. He is 9-month-old lab/retriever cross…so that big tail of his is gonna be a-waggin’ all over the place! Good thing there won’t be any fancy decorations on the tree that could easily get knocked off.

Funny how our soul knows the right decision to make…before we do.

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”