Advent Creativity and the Hessian Donkey

Quiet moments amid the bustle...

‘December will be magic again…’ sang Kate Bush, and I always find myself hoping that, come Christmas Eve, I’ll be calm, rested and festive.

Part of that is finding time to be alone with my own thoughts each day.

Growing up in a household as the third of four children with two primary school teacher parents, December was always a chaotic whirlwind of carol concerts, school plays, parties and visiting when I was young. Our home was a hive of crafting, music, and discordant rehearsals for various performances coming from all corners. Dad would take his guitar and groups of the school choir to sing carols in wards around Tameside Hospital, in the days when infection control took second place to loneliness.

We’d visit my Mum’s Dad in his old folks’ home and dodge mince pies being thrown around by elderly people with Alzheimers’ at their Christmas party. My birthday falls on December 22nd, and Mum and Dad would always try to get the Christmas decorations out of the loft and up in time for us to enjoy them.

Every year, the classroom decorations were hiked back out again, and I’d sometimes help Mum in the evenings by painting the enormous paper cartoon Holy Family pictures she’d staplegun to the nursery walls. Dad had an ancient donkey he had cut out of some hessian sacking, whose fuzzy edges he would carefully trim year after year before sticking back up as part of the nativity scene. By the time his trusty hessian donkey was retired, it was the size and shape of a small dog, its edges fraying each year until it became smaller and smaller.

Now I’m a parent myself, I try to take a moment to myself each day in Advent. This year, I bought a candle and put it away until December 1, and this morning I lit it and sat quietly for a moment, until Joey dived in and got into bed with me. We have visits, pantomimes, a school play, parties and loved ones to welcome over Christmas. I strongly plan to take some time to myself. Maybe you could, too?

Perhaps December will indeed be magic again.

FIVE MINUTE TASK - why not light a candle and sit by yourself if you can? Take a pen and paper. If you normally draw, try writing about it. If you write, sketch it. Write a poem about your candle. Fold your paper into its shape. When you’re ready, blow it out.