I also had trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. The spirit of joy, giving and gratitude just wasn’t automatically rising up in my spirit like year’s past. The normal family tradition of the us gathering for dinner and helping the kids of the family (there are a lot of them, ages 1-10) make and bake cookies and gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve isn’t an option. Things are just different and I found myself angry and discouraged about the changes. I knew I had to do something about that because there is so much to be grateful for and so many opportunities to create joy and connectedness in new ways.