Spirit Matters: Approach the season with sensible simplicity

I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.

It’s the morning after Thanksgiving. I just slept 10ish hours, and I still feel like … it rhymes with “well.”

This isn’t unusual.

Most holidays and all major public events do this to me.

I am experiencing your classic introvert hangover.

Just as those who imbibe too much alcohol suffer exhaustion and all kinds of aches the next day, those of us who are normally energized by retreating to our inner world filled with ideas, curiosity and imagination – not to mention quiet – suffer the same.

We often are good at adapting ourselves to get through the festivities, but we ultimately pay a price.

To put it in perspective, after my husband and I got married in March, it took me at least a week to even BEGIN to feel like myself again. And that was without us even leaving the house the whole time.

All of the planning and anticipation, which culminated in the blur of our wedding day, left me dazed and confused for days. And this was with a small wedding, with only family and a few close family friends. The resulting extended feeling of unrest is exactly why I would not have minded eloping.

So today I am in reset and recovery mode. As I sit here quietly typing on my laptop, my dog Zeke is curled up on his pillow behind me, lightly snoring. The house is quiet, and the morning light is coming through the blinds. Everything is as it should be.

After I got done with my morning prayer, it occurred to me how insane it is that our extroverted holiday season is kicking into high gear, just as Mother Nature is withdrawing into herself for the next several months.

There is a reason for the seasons – those seasons being spring, summer, autumn and winter. They are different reasons than those for the holiday season. Each of nature’s seasons offer important and necessary gifts, and autumn and winter offer our bodies and souls the much-needed gift of rest.

It’s a time to reflect on the past year’s events in our lives and, if we are lucky, to let go of those things that no longer serve our soul’s evolution. These seasons offer us the gifts of simplicity, spiritual warmth and coziness.

So what do we do with an opportunity like this?

We devise things like Black Friday to see how much “bang for our buck” we can get to accrue more stuff. The very stuff that will be tossed aside when the next piece of eye candy comes along, and will eventually end up in a garbage dump somewhere.

We run ourselves ragged decorating our yards to outdo our neighbors, aiming for the biggest and brightest displays rather than those with taste and meaning.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas lights as much as the next person. They have been a staple in my family’s celebration of the season for my entire life. But when I drive down the road and see blow-up Grinches and snowmen that are as tall, if not taller, than the house they sit in front of, I can’t help but feel a bit sick inside.

It’s just too much. We all don’t need to compete for the Clark Griswold Award.

All I’m saying is we need to stop, take a step back and breathe. We need to hit the reset button and consider those things that really matter in our lives. Here’s a hint: Those things don’t include wall-sized television screens.

While many of us are out filling our shopping carts with unnecessities this weekend and in the coming weeks, there are just as many, if not more, who are wondering where their next meal is going to come from.

There are people everywhere – perhaps even one of your neighbors – ravaged by the effects of mental and physical illness, and immersed in an internal season of darkness that seems it will never end.

There are families who are holding vigil with loved ones who might not even make it long enough to see Christmas this year, and families spending their first holiday season without their loved ones who have passed this last year.

These are the things that matter this season.

Spending quality quiet time with family and friends. And spending quality time alone to reflect and reset.

Deepening and expanding our souls.

Making priceless memories.

Memories that will last a lifetime and beyond, long after the excess has wasted away to nothingness.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines experiences common to the human spirit. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada Novak at jzblue33@yahoo.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and community.