My Christmas Wish for You 5 comments

My Christmas Wish for You

Sitting in our special place on Christmas day with my lovely wife, far removed from the outside world, it’s so easy to be insulated from all the hate, bigotry, greed, and ignorance. The fireplace glows as we watch Christmas movies and cuddle together, sharing so much between us without words. How I wish I could wave a magic wand so the joy and contentment in my heart could scatter like the millions of stars and share the wondrous peace in my soul with the world.

Alas I have no magic wand, no way to spread this gift Fate has given me, and so I will content myself with these simple wishes for me and mine, you and yours, and humanity near and far. These are the gifts I wish to bestow.

For my wife, Beauty – I give you the gift of believing in yourself and seeing the powerful and wondrous woman I see, each time you look in the mirror. You are smart, beautiful, kind, and good, funny, mischievous, and strong. Believe my words Beauty, and never doubt yourself.

For my Mom – I love you so much, as do my extended kink family. You are truly the Queen Mother. My wish for you is to have a day free from the pains that cause havoc in your 88 year-old body. Your mind is quick, your talents many, your generosity unending. Just for a day, play the piano with Hands that don’t hurt, volunteer in all the places where they need you without pain while going to and fro, and know in your heart that you’ve done well by your kids. There is no need to doubt. Even a million boxes couldn’t hold all my love for you.

For my Loyal Lesbian – You are the cornerstone of our kink family. The joyful, funny, impish lesbian elf who gets up to shenanigans and smart assery in the blink of an eye. Your arms are always open, your spirit never wavering; you give us the gift of love unconditionally and the security of knowing you will be there when we need you. My gift to you is the promise that we will always be here for you as well. When that ass loses a bit of its wiggle and time slows you down, you will have a home with us.

For my kink family – However you chose to identify, whatever you chose to play at, however you chose to love, I give the gift of acceptance. Here is a magic wand you can wave to open the eyes and hearts of the bigoted, narrow minded, judgmental folks who populate the Earth. Wave your wand and they will feel the joy you feel in your heart when you do whatever kinky thing it is that brings you the most delight. Just for a moment, their eyes will be wide, and their heart will be filled with the whimsical, outrageous, incredible fun to be had if they would only let go. Wave your wand, and they will do the jig of joy when they feel the glee from the tip of their nose to the tips of their toes. The sneers and harsh words, the destructive criticism, the nasty, hurtful actions will no longer be what motivates them. Their hearts will grow in size like the Grinch, and yet only have room for love.

For my boss – It would be so easy to hand you a plate of heartache and stress. You’ve serve that meal to me many times, but I am better than you and have nothing to prove. To you I give the gift of compassion and a moment of peace in which you can stop your never ending scramble to grab as much power as you can on the way to being queen of the hill. I take away the joy you find in crushing others and replace it with a warm and fuzzy feeling that can only be found by loving your fellow man. May you learn to rule with empathy, kindness, and compassion because those who respect and care for you will work much harder that those who despise you. Besides silly woman, don’t you know that I am the Queen? My path to the top of the hill in my kink family is paved with praise, encouragement, firmness, support, and love. You will never hear my brood yelling, “Off with her head.” You, on the other hand, will be sporting the same look a Marie Antoinette if you don’t stop intentionally hurting people.

To Kee – I give you wings that still come with training wheels. Somewhere along the way, you acquired maturity, a strong work ethic, the ability to compromise, a loving and generous heart, and a dose of common sense. The wings are to help you soar higher, and the training wheels are there in the box just in case you need your moms to help you figure out this thing called life.

To my granddaughters – To you, my oh so sweet, little girls, I give you the words of Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh. “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” I give you confidence, fearlessness, compassion, and always love. Never forget that girls can be superheroes too.

To my fur kids – I love all three of you and the crazy joy you bring us. I don’t have to bestow compassion, kindness, loyalty, love or anything similar. Your hearts are full as can be. On the other hand, if you boys remember Abbey is Queen, your lives will be less scary. Treats without number, warm laps, catnip, toys, and moms who love you will be your gifts in return for all the unconditional love you give today and every day.

To humanity – This one is hard because really, how can I give a gift that will make all the wrongs right? I’m not saying we should hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but a little tolerance can go a long way. Whatever God you do or don’t believe in, whatever culture, ethnic group, rung in society you are on, whether you wield power over others who are helpless or are the helpless who must live under a ruler who breathes hate, evil, and causes despair, open your eyes and look at the closest human being near you. Look at him or her, go on, look. The skin color doesn’t matter. The sexuality or gender doesn’t matter. The richness or poverty of their lives doesn’t matter. Take away what they can do for you or to you and just look at them. Do you see the glimmer of humanity in their soul that is the same as the one in you?

Just for today I want humanity to rejoice in our differences because of how we are the same. We fight, kill, maim, terrorize, and torture our fellow humans with a zeal that is nauseating. We jump on the me, me, me train and turn a blind eye to the suffering and devastation as our train goes by those who are different, hoping our Choo Choo will never stop at their stations. Just for today I want you to ask the train to make a stop that just might open your eyes and your heart. You don’t have to become life long friends. You don’t have to vow to love and support those who are different. You don’t have to pray to their God. You don’t have to condone their way of life or do anything but stop and look. Look at them just for a moment and connect as the kind, compassionate, loving, good hearted person that resides in you. Connect for just a moment. Walk in their shoes. Don’t judge, just feel. Just acknowledge them without spite, envy, jealousy, or any of the other million ways we manage to hate.

You both have a heart that beats. You both have eyes that see the wonders and the misery of the world. You both have people somewhere who love you. You both work hard to survive in this thing called life. You both think you are doing the very best you can with what Fate has served you, some with selfish intent, and some with a wish to spread joy. You both bleed, you both laugh, you both weep. Just reach out and touch fingertips for a moment. Connect. Hear their words, feel their pain, endure their hardship, embrace their destiny just for a moment, and then if you’re brave enough, look at yourself through their eyes. Perhaps you will cringe a little; perhaps what you see will make you smile. Take my gift of seeing yourself through another’s eyes and look if you’re brave enough, or take a quick peek if you’re not. It’s only for a moment, and one that doesn’t come around more than once in a lifetime.

While you are looking at your fellow human, I will return that box full of hate, bigotry, ignorance, power, dishonesty, corruption, greed, self-indulgence, intolerance, and pain along with all the hunger, loneliness, homelessness, insanity, sickness, poverty, war and terror in the world. I’ll exchange it for a box full of love, open-mindedness, intelligence, safety, warmth, protection, generosity, compassion, and beauty. You’ll be surprised that the new box is so light. It comes without the weight of the world on your shoulders and without the heavy heart.  So take this chance to look, if only for this moment, and maybe, just maybe you’ll decide that this new reflection is worth its weight in gold. It won’t stay shiny without work, but oh how it will sparkle if you just give it a chance.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Jolynn Raymond 2014