“We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” –Joseph Campbell
What brings you joy during the holiday season? Besides being with my family and friends, I love experiencing the joy of Christmas lights. Just the sight of the twinkling lights on trees, on houses, and on stores fills me with joy.
Last year my boys and I tried to see every Christmas light display in the Austin area. One of our favorites is the Zilker Trail of Lights. In the past years, we would walk the trail, but last year we had to drive through it. It was still beautiful and I was probably the slowest car, but I love seeing twinkling lights in trees and beautiful bright displays of joy. One display that stood out to me was a giant oak tree covered in pink Christmas lights. After I saw that tree, I knew that Christmas 2021 I would have pink lights wrapped around the oak tree in my front yard.
Of course my boys were not as excited about the pink tree idea as I was. I decided to order a box of pink lights every month starting in January. Well, by December of 2021, I had five boxes of pink lights. Let’s face it, I forgot to do it, but I still had 300 feet of pink lights to go in my tree.
While my boys were not too thrilled about pink lights, they were excited to have an opportunity to climb our large oak tree and play in it.
I wanted to wrap the trunk and the three main large branches of our oak tree with the pink lights. I was worried I didn’t have enough, but the 300 feet of lights fit perfectly around the tree and main branches. Once the sun set and it started getting dark, those pink lights brilliantly twinkled and all three of my boys said how great it looked. Now, I look forward to getting home and turning on my Christmas lights. They are stunning and absolutely breathtaking. As beautiful as they are, what I really love is that my boys and I put them up together. We had a lot of laughs and there were many jokes about being a literal “tree hugger”, catch me when I fall, and please hand me some water while I’m sitting in the tree.
Like most of my neighbors on my street, I could have hired someone to put our Christmas lights up for us, however, I would have missed out on the laughter, the jokes, and the excitement of seeing what we accomplished. These moments are forever in my heart and in my mind and bring me joy. And the best part was when my oldest son, who is 16, said, “ok mom, the pink lights actually look great.” Impressing a 16 year old boy with Christmas lights is a win!
Now, we are planning on seeing all the Christmas lights in town and maybe we will discover a new idea for next year. I hope you find what brings you joy. I promise once you do, a smile won’t leave your face and your heart will be filled with joy, hope, and happiness that surrounds Christmas!
Merry Christmas and enJOY the lights!
