letterfrompublisher
My childhood was blessed with Norman Rockwell memories of Christmas mornings gathered around the twinkling, tinseled tree with my seven siblings and sleepy parents, enveloped in the magical embrace of gifts from a benevolent Santa and the deeply felt security of a loving family. It was a hard act to follow when I became a parent.
To this day, come the holidays my inner child still looks for presents marked with my name and the chaotic, joyous connections of a large family. Fortunately, over the years I’ve discovered that the feeling I yearn to capture is something I can carry in my heart all through the year. It’s most readily accessed when I step into the role of giver—but not when I’m frantically doing last-minute shopping just to have a gift to wrap. I instantly related to Beth Davis’ leading factoid in her article, “Meaningful Giving,” on page 28: A recent U.S. poll reveals that a majority of the stress 90 percent of us feel about the holidays is related to gift-giving. I mean, we all benefited from Mom’s late night shopping and wrapping, painstakingly making sure we each felt equally gifted, but at what cost? Like many others, I’m still trying to overcome the notion that more gifts are better and that their numbers and expense somehow indicate how much we care. In our feature article, “Do Good, Feel Good,” Lisa Marshall explains why we all love to give of ourselves—whether it’s the gift of time and talent or simple goodness from the heart; perhaps home-baked cookies or a lovingly knit sweater. We also find gratification in donating to worthy causes, however modest our gift. I am fascinated to learn that giving stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain that drugs do.
In this special Giving issue, we share a rich banquet of gifting ideas. Our heart’s picks are not only more fun to give, but that also keep local dollars at home to strengthen our neighborhoods and communities (pages 28-29 and 36-38). As we head into 2012, I’m inspired by Wayne Dyer’s way of looking at each day, with his, “Five Intentions for the New Year” (page 49). I love his counsel, “Commit to at least one daily experience where you share something of yourself with no expectation of being acknowledged or thanked.” We may never know the difference we make when we take the time to smile at a stranger, donate to a food bank, visit a sick neighbor or do some other good deed. This holiday season, I’ll be ringing in the New Year with my 88-year-old mother, Mrs. Claus, and some of my siblings at our family cottage in Michigan, where there will again be mild chaos and meaningful presents with my name on them. May your inner child find its magical moments, too.
Wishing you the most important gifts of the holiday season… Peace, joy and love from our Natural Awakenings family to yours,
Sharon Bruckman, Publisher 6 Collier/Lee Counties
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72