Saturday 31 December 2016

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

Hello, thank you for calling in, it's lovely to see you here.  It's New Year's Eve, the seventh day of Christmas, and I am feeling rather wistful.  In years gone by I would have been fizzing with excitement by this point, looking forward to dressing up and going out to celebrate with friends until the New Year was ushered in and settled right down, but those days are long gone and tonight it's just the Best Beloved, the cats and me settling down by the fire with Jools Holland's Hootenanny on the telebox and a bottle or two of fizz.  Lovely.
 
You know, even after two lovely carol services I never really found my Christmas mojo this year.  Sigh.  I looked for it everywhere, but it never came out of its hiding place.  On Christmas Eve the Best Beloved told me that he was really enjoying Christmas this year and I pointed out to him that he had already been off work for a week during which he had been out for breakfast twice, been to the cinema twice, been to the pub and taken a lot of naps.  Of course he was enjoying his holiday, but there wasn't anything festive, was there?
 
That evening, we went to the most magical Crib Service.  It was supposed to take place in the parish church but with three days to go, the churchwardens told us that they didn't want us so we held it in a little garden instead.  Forty-two people squeezed in and found the real meaning of Christmas there in a "stable" full of toy animals - not just donkeys, sheep and cows but several bears, a leopard, a tiger, a cat, a dog, a fish, a monkey, a reindeer and a unicorn, too -  and fairy lights.  The little boy who was playing Mary got tired of holding the Baby Jesus so he laid the doll down in the manger full of hay and cuddled the monkey instead while the little girl playing Joseph looked on.  Adults who had always wanted to be in a nativity play squeezed in and we all sang Away In A Manger.  We all went home with love in our hearts but I still couldn't find my Christmas mojo.

 
Christmas Day was small with only three of us here but it was perfectly formed.  We went to church together, not our parish church but another, and found it full of joyful people.   We came home and opened our gifts, small things but well-chosen to give delight.  The Best Beloved and The Mathematician cooked a magnificent feast.  On Boxing Day The Teacher and Flashman came over and there was another feast.  We like feasts.  The next day, my clan gathered around my parents: all of their daughters, our menfolk and all the grandchildren, twenty of us altogether.  How blessed we are.  We went to the theatre in the afternoon to see Mary Poppins and came home in the evening to another feast at my sister's house.  Still my Christmas mojo was nowhere to be found.
 
Perhaps it's because my children are not here?  They are spending a few days together in Amsterdam and will return home tomorrow.  Perhaps it's the hurt caused by my parish church?  Perhaps it's because I can't find my nativity set?  We never had one at home when I was growing up but an elderly friend gave me one when The Teacher was small, it was hers but her son had bought her a rather grand one to replace it.  Every year I clear a shelf on the bookcase for it but this year, we can't find it and the room doesn't look right without it.  Perhaps it's the missing of those we have loved and lost?  The Best Beloved has felt very keenly the death of his father in September, following the death of his mother just before Christmas last year, and there have been moments when he has fallen apart.  We usually take our Christmas decorations down at Epiphany - apart from the crib because it seems such a shame to take it down when the Magi have only just arrived!  I leave that up until Candlemas at the beginning of February but obviously, that won't be happening this year because what doesn't go up can't come down.  Usually, I want to keep the tree up until Candlemas as well, I do love it so, but the Best Beloved puts his foot down quite firmly, and he is probably right.  Can you imagine how many needles there would be on the floor?!Last night I sat looking at the tree, twinkling away merrily in the firelight, and decided that I couldn't wait to take it down.

I really don't know what has happened to me this year - after all, I am the woman who some of my friends call "Mrs Christmas".  It's not simple Bah Humbug, I really have searched and searched, but the mojo went missing.  So for the first time ever, I am ready to leave Christmas behind, kick this dreadful year out of the door and sally forth into a new one.  This is the year which has seen my family overshadowed by illness since May, saw two deaths in September and the loss of my job in October when my employer suddenly went into liquidation.  No longer will any new works of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Terry Wogan, Victoria Wood, Denise Robertson, Glen Frey, Caroline Aherne, Leonard Cohen, Greg Lake and George Michael be able to move me (nor Richard Adams, but he was 96 so I think that's OK).  We've had shocking results in a referendum in the UK and an election in the USA and children are still being placed into small, unseaworthy boats in the eastern Mediterranean Sea because their parents believe that they will be safer in those boats than on the land.  So, in that vein, I leave you with a few lines from In Memoriam by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

 
See you in 2017.
 
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 comments:

  1. I too am looking forward to a fresh new year. Bring it on I say.
    A very happy New Year to you and yours, and thank you for visiting my blog.

    Jean

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    1. Your blog is great Jean, I always enjoy my visits. x

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  2. My Christmas mojo has been missing for some time now - as in years - and I don't know where it went or how to find it. What I do know though is that I hope yours returns with abundance in 2017 and that you can return to really enjoying it! So sad that you have had whatever the difficulties are with your church, at this time of year especially. perhaps the lovely one you found on Christmas day can be a new church home for you and that will be the start of good things to come. I keep the nativity up until Candlemas too, but not the tree, so you are welcome to think of mine if it helps, but I hope yours will turn up. Perhaps as you put away the tree the nativity will appear! Happy 2017 and hopes for nice and good things for you!

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    1. The nativity set hasn't turned up yet, Amy. It's very odd. I am surprised that your Christmas mojo is missing because you decorate your home so beautifully for Christmas - you really are an inspiration. I wish for nice and good things for you too this year. Take care. x

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    2. Hello, for some reason I am only just reading this reply. My mojo is missing because for many reasons, must all of which I am well aware of. I decorate despite the lack of mojo as a way of fighting back against all of the reasons which have caused me to lose it. It helps a bit, but still doesn't take those reasons away. I will try and write a blog post about it. I try and just keep on a good face! Thank you for the good wishes!

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  3. So sorry to hear that your Christmas spirit didn't make an appearance. Luckily, a new Year is dawning and hopefully things will be better. I know about feeling hurt from the church. I hope you can find a place where you feel you belong. I wish you all the best for the New Year dear friend. Hugs, Pat

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    1. Oh thank you Pat - hugs to you, too, and Happy New Year. x

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  4. Like you I searched but didn't find that spirit I wanted to find. It has been a strange year of loss both personal and national plus the feeling of insecurity and anxiety caused by various events. I hope this year you find your Christmas mojo and your beloved nativity scene too. Best wishes to you and your for 2017:)

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    1. Rosie, I have been surprised just how many people mislaid their Christmas spirit this year. I think you are right about the feelings of insecurity and anxiety, it's set many people off kilter. Lets hope 2017 doesn't turn out to be as difficult as we fear! Take care. x

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  5. I didn't have much mojo this year either and normally I love Christmas. This year I felt like I was going through the motions. Hopefully next Christmas will be better.

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    1. Isn't it odd Janet? I am so glad it wasn't just me. Happy New Year to you and Mac, and let's hope it's better than last year. x

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  6. Sorry to hear your Christmas mojo is lacking here's wishing for a better New Year. Best wishes for 2017, hope all your dreams come true.

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    1. Thank you, you are kind. You are certainly working on making your dreams come true - Lewis?! Amazing. I hope things go smoothly. x

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  7. I know what you mean Mrs T. It's been a funny old year. I perked up Christmas Day when we were all finally where we were supposed to be. Let's hope 2017 is a good year and you find your crib ready for next year. x

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    1. Well my pre-Christmas drama pales into insignificance compared with yours, Karen! I am glad you were all in the right place for Christmas Day, ready for the ice cream mountain. Yes, let's hope 2017 will be a good year for all of us. xx

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  8. I have my fingers crossed that 2017 will be your year. Wishing you all the best. B xx

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    1. Thank you Barbara, you are kind. I am looking forward to seeing lots of photos taken with your new lens. x

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  9. We did things differently this Christmas, and somehow, Christmas mojo seems most potent when things are done as-they-have-been-done-for-years. Alas, that's not realistic, so I find myself trying to establish a few new traditions for just the two of us.

    I hope that 2017 brings you much joy and a solution to many of the world's problems.

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    1. Thanks Lorrie. I hope 2017 brings joy to you and yours, too. Hmm, you've given me something to ponder over. Take care. x

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  10. I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry with you on this post dear Mrs. Tiggywinkle. You had me both ways with your entertaining ways of writing. 2016 seems to have been a rather tough year for many people. I'm sorry that you couldn't find Christmas in your heart this year (or the nativity scene on the shelf!), but maybe there's just too much filling it right now. I felt a lacking because my family didn't get together, and that seems to be one of only a couple of times we do get together in each year. I was also far behind in getting all gifts completed in time and was missing my winter evenings just reading books. Loved the poem ... it's comforting to know that others have passed through troubling times as well, and hopefully came through to happier days.
    Wendy

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    1. I was really surprised when I read the poem at how much of it perfectly described my feelings. I suppose that's the thing about great poetry. And maybe I need to make a careful note of what was wrong about this Christmas so that I can put those things right next Christmas? At least you know what was lacking in yours. I wish you many blessings in 2017, lovely blogging friend. x

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  11. How I feel for you - 2016 was not the kindest of years for many of us. I do hope that 2017 will bring happy times and joy-filled moments. Happy New Year! Marie x

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    1. Your 2016 was rougher than mine I think, Marie. Yes, happy times and joy-filled moments are what we all need this year. Happy New Year to you. x

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  12. Well I am so sorry to hear that you did not have a very good Christmas this year. I think sometimes we have so much going on in life, and our hearts, and in our head that we just can't find our mojo, whether it's Christmas time or any other time of the year. Mine goes missing now and then. Last year I did not have a great Christmas as my husband's mother died a few months before and her birthday is in December. We were living in one room in the basement while we were building the house above us and it had been my third Christmas in the basement. ( I put my foot down ). My nieces did not spend the weekend with me and they have done that for years. They are getting older but I found later they missed it. I was busy handling my mother-in-law's estate on top of everything else that was going on. I decided this year, in November, I was going to do everything I could think of to have a happy Christmas. And I was going to take time for me. I started reading Christmas novels in November. It's something I love to do in the month of December, but I decided to do that in November too. I decided I was going to entertain. I decorated a lot. I bought my cousin and my sister 24 gifts each and put them in a bag for a Christmas countdown gift. And I just did whatever I could to help me enjoy the season. I think sometimes we have to try a little harder, and find new ways to enjoy things that used to come naturally. I sure hope that your new year gets better for you and that you find your mojo.

    Cindy Bee

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    1. Thanks, Cindy. You certainly did decorate a lot - I love those green swags and red bows on the outside of your house. And reading Christmas novels in November is a great idea because I never have enough reading time in December, so thanks for that idea. Yes, this year I shall try harder. Thank you. x

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