Finally ready for Christmas

So I have been struggling to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I haven't wrapped any presents. I have only listened to my Christmas playlist approximately 2 times. I don't have any of my Christmas decorations set out yet, which actually isn't a big deal since I only have a fiber optic tree that's 3 feet tall, 2 sets of Russian nesting dolls, and a reindeer windsock.

And on our Wild, Organic Christmas Trees Tour, you can see the rare and delicate Teacup Fiber Optic Evergreen.

 Maybe it's living alone in a fairly new place, or maybe it's just because I'm older, but I just haven't been feeling Christmas-y. I have tried a little bit. I have helped cut down my family's Christmas tree and friend's Christmas tree. I driven around town once at night to look at lights. But typically by this time of year, I am feeling very festive. So last night's events were much needed to catapult me into some Christmas cheer. 

Last night some friends and I took a tour of historic homes. These homes were decorated in very traditional Christmas style, and were open for people to come inside and look around. And oh my goodness, they were beautiful homes. Some were nearly 200 years old, and were beautifully restored and preserved. And the Christmas decor was perfect. It was beautiful to just walk down street to the open houses on a night that was cold enough to let you see your breath, but not cold enough to make you feel like an icicle. And while we were walking down that street, I saw it. I saw what I have wanted to see pretty badly for a very long time. 

I saw a talking dog.

Just kidding.

I saw a shooting star.

And then I promptly freaked out and realized that it is now mid-December. And what happens during mid-December? The Geminid meteor shower, of course! And sure enough, when I confirmed with my phone that the meteor shower peaked  last night, I pretty much forced my friends to agree to stargaze with me after our Christmas tour. They were good sports about it, because who doesn't like to watch shooting stars?

So after we walked through the last historic home on the Christmas tour, we went back to my friend's house and watched a movie until it got late enough to really see the shower. And then we bundled up in coats and blankets, turned off all the lights, and went and sat outside. We were able to see the stars so clearly out where she lived, and we tried to pick out constellations while watching for shooting stars. I also learned that I don't really know anything about constellations. It got pretty cold, so we brought a space heater outside to warm our feet. Also, I just think that space heater is a fitting name for staring at the stars in space. 

We saw around 1 shooting star per minute, streaking across the sky like silver fish darting around in the water. The mountains could be barely seen in the background.

Notice all the constellations that I did not add.

And by the end of the night. I was in the Christmas spirit. It's a very distinctive feeling, being in the Christmas spirit. It's a very warm and comfortable feeling, even though I was sitting outside on a cold night and my toes were beginning to turn into foot icicles. It transcends our understanding, though we work hard to get a more accurate understanding of it. It goes beyond presents and decorations. It goes beyond lights and the houses around you, and the cities and the continents. 

It goes beyond all of that, all the way past space and beyond those shooting stars, and into heaven, where the Lord who created it all is at work. It goes all the way into time: past, present, and future. It goes all the way into that story that we know so well, where a star showed the path to the young Christ.

Travel Shaming.

It's the season of holidays, which means it's the season of travelling all over this great state. To Birmingham, to Tuscaloosa, to Auburn, to Wetumpka, and back to Huntsville after each trip. I hate driving, but because boys don't want anything to do with me and I will likely be alone forever, I have to drive on every one of these trips. I just wanna get married so someone else can drive. Is that so wrong?

This is supposed to be a depiction of Alabama, and the places within Alabama  to which I have been/will be travelling to within November and December. It's beautiful, I know.

But I must drive myself, and so I do. And all this driving around makes me think about some of the wonderful trips on which I have been. I like to see things I have never seen before. I like to learn about the things that have happened in those places, and the notable people who have been there. I enjoy experiencing the unique culture of each place. But even though I have been to many, many different places, I have fallen prey to what I like to call Travel Shaming. 

We have all experienced Travel Shaming. Either we have been the Travel Shamed or the Travel Shamers. I have visited approximately 13 states in the United States apart from my home state of Alabama (I am going to state the word state as many times as I can possible state the word state in this sentence). I have been to multiple cities in many of those states, and have visited or lived all over Alabama. I have not been out of the country, which is the biggest source of my travel shame. 

I have been to a variety of camps. I have visited other places for mission work. I have taken many wonderful vacations. I have seen a lot. I have really been blessed in my travels. Which is why travel shaming is so terrible.

I have been the travel shamed. When people post those things online showing where all they have traveled to within the United States, I am always travel shamed. Why? Because people who have only been to 13 states, all in the eastern half of the country, never post those. Only people who have been to at least half of the country post those. Now, I don't think it's because they are trying to rub it in my face, or anyone else's face. They're probably just eager to show that they have been blessed to be able to do and see a lot. 

The reasons people travel are broad, and sometimes complicated. Some have been able to travel for work (which is not always fun), and some have been blessed to travel just for fun. Sometimes, they go for mission work, temporary or long-term. Sometimes these mission trips are really just vacations disguised as mission trips (not the topic of today's post), and sometimes these mission trips are truly to perform real work for the Lord. Regardless of the many reasons people travel, they have been travelling far away and have consequently seen much, much more of the world than I have. 

I am very glad that these people get to travel, and have the means and opportunities to travel. I want people to be able to travel. Travelling can be really good. It is not that people get to travel that makes me feel travel shamed. It is the people who unconsciously brag. Many, but not all, people don't just talk about their adventures and what they saw, and post pictures for other people to enjoy. They don't just relate the details of their trip to people. It becomes travel shaming when they present themselves as better because they travel. They're always restless and never content until they can hop on an airplane again and zoom off to their next destination. It's not about their personal satisfaction at what they've experienced; it's about their personal satisfaction at making sure they are perceived as well-traveled. And that makes me feel travel shamed, because I have only been able to see 13 states all within one country. 

But then, I have also been the travel shamer, which is a sad thing to be once you realize you have been it. You see, many people within this country of plenty don't travel. At all. Travel is expensive. Even though this country is wealthy, and those here living in poverty can receive help more easily than those living in some of the poorest places in this world, that doesn't mean that they have much opportunity for luxury. And travel is a luxury that many, many people cannot afford, even people who are not living in poverty. Think of it this way: I might talk about a weekend trip to Alabama's beach, which I typically get to visit annually, and then find out that the other person in the conversation has never been to the beach. And that they actually haven't been out of town in years. Not because they like to stay close to home. But because gas is expensive, and hotels are expensive, and eating out is expensive, and paying to park your car in public parking is expensive. Leaving town is expensive.

And in that moment, I have travel shamed them. I have flaunted my ability to travel and what I have been able to do in this world as if it were no big thing. I might have "only" been to 13 states, but I have still travel shamed people. I might not can buy a plane ticket to Europe and spend 2 weeks there, but I have still travel shamed people. I might always be ready to forget that I have been blessed in my travels, and be ready to present myself as someone who longs to go to more and different places (and truly I would love to vacation or complete missions in many more places than I have been able to so far). But I hope that I can remember the difference between the blessing of travelling and travel shaming. 

Also, I never fully proofread these things, so sorry if some of the sentences don't make sense.