Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Peak to Peak. After the wind slowed and the power was restored, last weekend, holiday lights lit up the evening in Gilpin County. The warm glow they provide lifts our spirits during the long winter nights. As we busy ourselves this month with holiday preparations take a little time to enjoy the festive lights. Slow down a little and take a deep breath. Listen to the snow crunching as you walk.Take a minute to look at a shop window that is decorated for the holidays. Make a dessert that you enjoyed as a kid during the holidays and let the smell take you back to your childhood. 

Take the time to smile at the person on the other side of the register and thank them. Take the time to smile and be pleasant to everyone you see. Light some candles and find peace in their radiant light. Attend a Christmas service or mass and let the burdens you carry fall away as the music fills your soul. 

Greet this holiday season not with the “stuff” you have to do but with the wonderful “stuff” you get to do. Start a family tradition or a tradition of your own that brings peace and joy to your heart. 

We all have burdens to bear. Let the holidays be a time of releasing some of those burdens and find hope, peace, love and joy in our lives and in our hearts. 

(Originally published in the December 5, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)