AI Christmas?

More analogue, more joy…

Growing Light

As someone who sings, Christmas preparations always begin early, and when you also works with children, churches and community groups, requests to help add a little to the magic of Christmas flood in from the end of July - nothing like leaving ‘enough time’ for preparation! However, easing into Christmas gently and slowly are part of my DNA. My grandmother was Danish, and from earliest Kindergarten days candles were lit from mid autumn to early spring - Martinmas to Candlemas - in number in inverse proportion to the length of days.

Soft lights marked celebrations like St Lucy’s Day, Christingle, and of course as Advent progressed, candles would be lit Sunday by Sunday on rings of evergreen, light growing gradually as a symbolic widening of hope - and a beautiful reminder, too, that we shift, change and grow slowly over time. And yes, I have real candles on my Christmas tree, usually lit just once on Twelfth Night - for me that unique, once-in-a-season, glow is truly magic.

The Magic of Christmas

With John Lewis, M&S, and Aldi competing for the best telly ads from October, there seems to be more pressure to create the perfect Christmas of someone else’s imagining, and capture a magic ‘just so’ for family and friends. Often it can send us into a whirlwind of activity, rushing about, and generally overextending ourselves in all kinds of ways, finding that by the time we arrive at Christmas Day we are emotionally and physically exhausted, don’t want to see another mince pie, and are desperate to tear down the tree and ‘get back to normal’ within a few days.

For fun, I asked chatGPT what the magic of Christmas was. It ‘thought’ a lot… little digital cogs spinning. Typically poetic, it spat out some words, ‘Lovely question - one that feels more like a small bell that an quiz’, followed by a few sentences about light in the dark, a cultural permission to pause (really chatGPT?!), some interesting lines about childlike wonder, ending with the title ‘Generosity and repair’ … before, ironically, it broke, spitting out a red message, ‘Error in Stream’. I laughed… the magic of Christmas a concept too deep for the mighty computer wizard.

Keeping it Real

So, I’m keeping things completely real - as always - because how is an AI Christmas life enriching? So I encourage you to dip into these thoughts emerging from the Scandinavian hygge season of dark nights, candle glow and spicy gingerbread, and see what resonates for you.

For me, the magic of Christmas has never been in the ‘thinky things’, except perhaps the thoughtfulness that delivers small kindnesses just when we need them: words that calm when it all get too much, or the light reassuring touch on our arm when feeling overwhelmed by expectation or excess. So how might we see this mid-winter season as an invitation to engage with the senses, the things of the heart, tenderness, connection and quiet joy?

Preparing heart and home

Slow and gentle preparations for Scandinavians evolve throughout Advent and are often sensory, grounding and deeply mindful. As children we’d bake gingerbread with Farmor, the scent of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves filling the house, relaxing the nervous system, signalling warmth and belonging, and evoking memories of Christmases past, long before the arrival of the tree.

Each year a gingerbread house was lovingly created, and revealed by our grandmother, a time accompanied by fairy stories and cosiness by the fire as my sister and I would dismantle the sweet treats piece by piece. And there would be handcrafts too: clove-studded orange pomanders, woollen angels, and julehjerte - woven paper hearts. Simple reminders of love and connection, often made after long walks in the woods and along the canal banks to gather armfuls of evergreen, frosty cold air and seasonal stillness bringing the body back into itself. In these hygge moments of present connection - with others, self and in nature - there is a quiet invitation to slow, to breath deeper, soften the shoulders, and remind ourselves that the beauty and magic of Christmas is often simple, fragile and alive.

More joy!

So, this Christmas, are you tempted to fake it, or, in this digital world, will you keep it real? Part of finding joy is being honest about what is, in all its complex messiness - including the tiredness, grief, and limits - and giving them space alongside the light. Honouring that doesn’t diminish the festivities. When we listen to our bodies needs for a slower pace, more rest, balance in the busy-ness, or simpler days, we stop performing joy and start inviting it in. Focus on things that bring connection: nurture relationships; create meaningful ritual; make heartfelt memories; do less with more presence. My advent hope for you - as well as creating that Christmas magic for those you love, remember you are important. Tune in to your body. Let the senses lead - work with your energy, and attend to what you need and brings you joy, too.