December is here, and we are in the season of Advent.

Waiting…anticipating…planning….organising….

…perhaps descending into a frazzled heap on the floor amidst the wrapping paper, lists and tinsel. 

Ho hum. 

There is a lot going on in many people’s lives, and so my musings here will be short and a little more reflective. 

This week, ask yourself – What is most important to me this Christmas season?

How about kindness, clarity of sight, and peace?

Are you a huggy sort of person? Might seem like an odd question, but at this time of year especially, the importance of human contact cannot be underestimated. 

We might joke about the compulsory kiss from the bewhiskered elderly aunt, and cringe at the thought of just having embraced that work colleague you would never normally hug. Somehow Christmas seems a more socially acceptable time to be more physically demonstrative. 

Of course, there is something much deeper going on here. This is not simply about superficial physical contact. This is about extending a touch of kindness to another that communicates care, joy, time. You have noticed them and you value their humanity. The friend who lives on their own. The elderly neighbour. The lollipop lady who you pass each morning. The homeless person, desperate to be validated as a human. 

Because for some, this time of year is really hard. Lost loved ones, illness, financial uncertainty, natural disasters. All can serve to make what should be a time of celebration all the harder and more lonely. For many, there is little time off work, and work is busier and it can all feel just a little too much.

This is not about pouring glum bleakness onto our Christmas spirit. 

But it is about saying, how can I – we – you – seek this week to share a simple touch of kindness with someone you come across?