The Comfort of Home

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Traveling is great, really. I’ve always enjoyed it immensely. However, up until now, I never realized just how nice it is to come home. Perhaps something has changed in me, or maybe I just feel like I’m finally at home. I’ve been gone for months at a time before. I’ve traveled for over a month all over Europe, slept in many beds, lived in Europe for a few months, gone to Romania for entire summers, so it’s really not the first time that I’ve been gone from home for over a month traveling to different places. Yet, whenever I used to travel before, I never got home sick. I never felt the need to be back home, to be amongst my surroundings. I never felt the need for the known – the unknown was perfectly fine with me, even exciting.

I was in a way surprised to find that this time around it was quite different. I searched for the answer within myself, but I’m afraid I couldn’t find it. It’s not that I didn’t have a great time, it’s not that I now have a better living environment – I’m not more attached to my apartment here in Tbilisi than I was to any other apartments I’ve lived in. So what has changed? I’ve come to the conclusion that this is just part of growing up. As we grow older – or let’s say, mature – we develop a sense of routine, if not an actual routine. We get accustomed to the place we live in and we view it with much importance – the way it looks, the way it holds up. We work towards making it our area of retreat, our area of relaxation, our area where we can be ourselves.

As young adults, I think we’re more careless and have much less of an attachment to such things. Our values are yet to be formed, and thus, we go along with the flow and are much easier to please, in many ways. Our home is wherever our parents are, and for most young teenagers and young adults who live with parents, that doesn’t necessarily mean a place of privacy, a place of retreat. Perhaps this doesn’t allow the same bond to form, that would otherwise form between one and his private retreat. I suppose this is not always the case, but I think it is the case for quite the majority.

Either way, I believe that’s what distinguished this time from all the previous times for me. Upon arriving in Tbilisi, I felt such joy that I nearly bounced out of my window seat on the Ukrainian Airlines flight, before actually landing. I loved hearing the Georgian language, even though, once again, I understood nothing. It was a nice change, being in the UK and Romanian, where I could communicate with people without having to resort to making weird bodily movements or sounds to express what I want. I was overjoyed by the sight of the crazy TV Tower gracing Tbilisi with it’s spurts of light throughout the whole night. I was even more excited by the sight of the Taxi drivers. Upon walking out of the Airport, I asked (please note that I asked, not they asked – in Kiev they bounce on you as if they are hungry wolves and you are a foreign looking object – with blond hair) for a taxi and the first in line took me home. I was ever so happy that I tried to speak my very little – or rather, non existing – Georgian, something which I hardly ever do because I’m rather shy when it comes to talking in foreign languages. My heart fluttered at overtaking the Police Car on the highway and it bounced with joy when the car horns displayed the drivers impatience. Driving between two lanes again felt good – so very good. But the best part – the best part was sleeping in my own comfortable bed, and the assurance that I’ll be sleeping on that same bed for at least a few months before sleeping on another.

And now, that I’m back, the blog will also be back. I did however decide that, although my main goal is the same, I think I’m going to execute it in a much more relaxed manner. Therefore, because Beauty Today has always made me more than a little bit anxious and ill feeling, I will stop that. Instead, I hope to be able to bring some beauty in my posts every single day, instead of just on Tuesdays. My idea when I started with it, was a good one I think, however I don’t believe I’m the right person to actually do it. I hope you can all bear with me in the next month or so as I mold this blog into what I really want it to be. I’m on the right track – just a couple of details are missing. I truly appreciate your readership, and on my embarking on this new… let’s say, minor revamp of a sort, I do welcome any opinions. What do you like about this blog? What don’t you like? What would you like to see in the future? Your opinions matter a lot.

Words of Wisdom

Originality and Honesty

I’m starting off the New Year with a guest post by Alana from Sewn Stories. I came across Alana’s blog a while ago and fell in love with her style of writing. She writes a lot about one of her great passions which is sewing, but she also writes about a wide range of other topics – all which I greatly enjoy.

I decided to open up the year with her piece because it comes along with a wonderful message. Be honest because that makes you original. Being original is the key to success. Originality will take you a long way, and so, I believe this is exactly what everyone needs to remember as they start a New Year. Having said that, I hope everyone had a lovely evening last night and all the best in 2010.

Several years ago I was a young undergrad, majoring in Philosophy. The first philosophy paper I wrote – the first serious essay – I was expected to demonstrate not just an understanding of the material I had chosen to discuss, but to provide my own argument, to demonstrate original thought.

The concept of ‘original thought’ terrified me. I was adept at understanding difficult concepts, and I could demonstrate my understanding, but making that final leap, offering my honest and balanced opinion on an issue someone much smarter than me had obviously spent a lot of time considering, seemed impossible.

What could I offer? I read several different viewpoints on the topic my paper was to focus on, and there were viewpoints I agreed with, but I found it difficult to summon the courage to move beyond the ideas of those I agreed with. They had written what I believed, and that was that. All the thoughts had been thought.

Thankfully I had an extremely supportive and understanding professor, who gently explained to me that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. I didn’t have to prove the others wrong, or produce a radical theory never before offered.

I just had to be honest.

My professor told me to be patient. He told me to read, and think, and write, and eventually the answer would come to me. He said eventually my understanding would grow enough to allow me to make the leap, and I would discover through reason my honest and justifiable opinion. He said my opinion would likely be similar to the opinion held by many who had considered the topic before me, but because I had put serious thought into the issue, my argument, or the way in which I would justify my opinion, would be original. It would be my honest opinion.

The idea of originality resulting from honesty has stayed with me. It gives me comfort when I feel discouraged. I am currently going through a period of growth and learning. I suppose it can be argued that we all are always growing and learning, and if we’re not, we’re stagnant. However, at this time my focus is on learning, my intention is to grow, and I am actively seeking change. My focus is on discovering my voice as a writer and improving my skills as a seamstress. I require vast improvements in both areas, and I’m not sure what I have to offer. I started blogging in September as a way to hold myself accountable and tease out the direction I want to take. Blogging has helped me in many ways, but some days I wonder why I am doing it. I wonder why I am writing stories no one reads, why I am making dresses with crooked seams. Will any of this ever provide me with an income? Will I ever be published? Will my blog ever lead me to greater opportunities? Will I ever be a skilful craftsperson, creating quilts and clothes and other items that others would want to buy? Is it enough to do these things only for myself?

What can I write, what can I make, that someone else isn’t already writing, or making, only better?

The answer is that I can write and I can make what I write and what I make. I try to remember that I will never accomplish anything if I don’t try. I try to be patient. If I am honest in my attempt, if I put in the work and I learn from my mistakes, I will grow and improve. Even if millions of others have written similar stories or sewn similar quilts, it is still worthwhile for me to try my hand. In time my abilities, my understanding, and my self will make the leap.What I create, whether it is a short story or a summer dress, a non-fiction article or a quilt, will be original and unique and an honest representation of who I am.

So this is my advice to you, if you ever feel the discouragement I sometimes feel: always be true to your self. Be honest. To be honest is to be original, to be uniquely you. Keep trying, keep learning, and eventually you will make the leap.

Words of Wisdom

Multicultural Christmas

Christmas is my most favorite time of the year. There is something extremely appealing about sitting by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate inside a colourfully lit interior while the outdoors are covered in white. It is also the one time of the year when everyone tries to be as nice as possible, as to not destroy the festive mood. This is rather nice. It’s peaceful. It’s beautiful.

Photo By: n.elle

Most of my readership is from North America – particularly Canada and the United States. Although both countries are very multicultural and therefore Christmas can be celebrated many different ways and at different times, most people are not aware of cultural differences when it comes to Christmas. Therefore, I thought it was a neat idea to look at a few different countries and point out some things that they do different.

United States/Canada
The United States and Canada are very multi-cultural, therefore, you will find many different customs and celebrations. Typically however, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December, however those who are Orthodox celebrate at a later date. Usually families hang stockings on their fireplace (or, as my parents didn’t have a fireplace while I grew up, we hung ours on the wall), decorate a fake or real Christmas tree, decorate their house or balcony with pretty lights and cook up a storm. Kids believe in Santa Clause (or at least they used to, I don’t know if they still do these days) and they leave cookies out for him to eat (and carrots for the reindeers) during the night when he pops through the chimney to leave all the nice presents. Santa comes on a sleight with 9 reindeers, Rudolph being in the lead. On Christmas morning, presents are opened and staples such as coffee cake or cinnamon rolls are served for breakfast, along with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows.

In Canada there is also a thing called Boxing Day which is “celebrated” on December 26th. I say “celebrated” because although Boxing Day is suppose to be a day where people give boxes of presents (hence boxing) to the poor and people in service jobs, but in Canada it has become a day when stores have huge sales and people wait in line to buy things for themselves.

Belgium (and I believe the Netherlands as well)
Sinterklass (Saint-Nicholas) is celebrated on the 6th of December and children believe that Saint-Nicholas comes on a horse, therefore, traditionally they leave hay, carrots and water outside the house the morning before. Sinterklass is however different than Christmas. The Belgian Santa Claus, de Kerstman or le Pere Noel comes around on Christmas day and brings children presents which are found under the tree or in stockings which are hung on the fireplace. For breakfast, Belgian families traditionally eat a sweet bread called cougnou or cougnolle which is supposed to be in the shape of baby Jesus. So, they eat baby Jesus on Christmas day. How sweet. I’ve always had a bit of a problem with eating things that resemble live humans or animals.

Finland
So this is where Santa is believed to live, in the northern part of Finland called Korvatunturi, which is located north of the Arctic Circle. This is usually where kids send their letters to Santa. On Christmas Eve people tend to eat rice porridge and a sweet soup which is made from dried fruits, and later on they decorate a spruce tree (unlike Canada, where people decorate a tree once Halloween is over). The Finnish also have something called a “Christmas peace declaration” which is broadcasted on radio and on TV. This peace declaration is a speech by the Mayor of Turku, a Finnish city. Traditionally, people would go to Church early in the morning on Christmas day, but a new tradition makes it okay to go to church on Christmas Eve in the afternoon or late afternoon. They also have a tradition of going to the graveyards to bring a candle to the graves of loved ones. Gifts are usually brought by a family member dressed up as Santa Claus if there are little children, and if not then they are usually collected in a sack and distributed that way.

Germany
Germans apparently love to decorate their houses at Christmas. Often they will also have an “Adventskranz” which is basically a wreath of leaves with four candles. This is the celebration of Advent, the coming of Christmas which is usually the 4 weeks before Christmas. On each Sunday of Advent another candle is lit. Der Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) brings presents in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve after the traditional church going. The presents are normally found under the tree, and typically one family member will ring a bell and call everyone to come to the room.

Romania
Svintul Nicolae (Saint NIcholas) comes on December 6th. Children put their cleaned shoes out by a window or by the door the night before, and Saint Nicholas usually leaves some sweets in them. I remember as a child, I would always clean my shoes for hours to make sure that there were absolutely no dirt spots on them. I would then put them on the window sill in my room, and out of excitement I wouldn’t fall asleep until very late. This of course meant that my parents had to wake up in the middle of the night to put some candies in my shoes. And if you were bad, instead of sweets you get some love coal (usually wrapped in something so to not destroy the shoes). Thankfully, I never found coal in my shoes – must mean that I was a super wonderful child!

On Christmas Eve the tree goes up, usually without the children knowing. Usually I just played outside, and by the time I came in for dinner, the tree was glowing. This was always such a happy moment for me, seeing that Christmas tree. At school we would make Christmas tree decorations out of paper and my mom proudly hung those up year after year. Romanians also have a tradition of hanging edible chocolates wrapped in colourful paper on the Christmas tree. Christmas presents are put under the Christmas tree and opened on Christmas Eve. Christmas day is usually spent with the entire family, rotating whose house to destroy every year. More presents are usually given on Christmas day when extended family comes together and bring the presents which Santa left for everyone at their house. Lots of food is always served, not only at Christmas but year round.

Russia
In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated much. New Year however, was very important, which is when Father Frost brought presents to the children. With the fall of Communism however, Christmas began to be once again a widely celebrated holiday. Christmas is either celebrated on December 25th or January 7th, depending on your religion. The Russian Orthodox church uses the old Julian calendar for religious celebrations, therefore some, if not most people celebrate Christmas a year after the Catholics. I’m sure tons of food is also involved.

Latvia
Latvians believe that Santa Claus brings presents each of the 12 days of Christmas – like the song. The 12 days of Christmas begins on Christmas Eve and usually the presents are put under the tree. Also, apparently the first Christmas tree was decorated in Riga, Latvia in the year 1510.

England
England opens presents on the 24th. I wonder why Canada opens theirs on the 25th – it is part of the commonwealth after all. Nothing unusual in their celebrations, much like the average Canadian one, however, one thing that I read is that England still keeps a traditional Boxing Day celebrations, wrapping small treats into boxes and giving them to however comes calling that day. I wonder if this is actually true, or if England goes shopping, just like Canada. Anyone know?

Italy
The main exchange of gifts doesn’t happen until January 6th, because this is the day that the Wise Men were believed to have reached the baby Jesus. Italy also has a character named La Befana, who brings gifts to the good and punishment to the bad. I guess this is the same as Saint-Nicholas, who brings sweets for the good and coal for the bad?

Ghana/South Africa
Christmas in Ghana is a big thing, which is usually spent visiting family and friends. Houses are decorated with paper ornaments specifically made for Christmas. Usually a tree in a courtyard or backyard is also decorated – this tree may be a mango tree, or a guava tree or even a cashew tree. The children and the younger family members usually decorate the tree outside. Christmas Eve services are widely held at churches and most people attend these on Christmas Eve. After the service there is usually a few local bands that play in the streets – I suppose it might resemble some sort of carnival, without the costumes.

On Christmas day people return to church in their finest clothes. After the service, young ones receive a gift from the church, such as imported chocolate, and are told that the gifts come from Santa (Father Christmas) – perhaps a tradition left over from the colonial days?

So, whatever your nationality, whatever date you celebrate on and whatever you do for Christmas, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas day. I hope you all spend it with your family and friends, because after all, if you’re not religious and even if you are, that’s what Christmas should be about. Material presents are nice, but family and friends are better.