A family, a starry Christmas and a world in fire

I have longed for this Christmas for so many years, without really knowing it. A Christmas while not just visiting Stockholm or travelling abroad and where we also managed to invite our families to our home for Christmas Eve. And apart from a few ones being far away, it happened to be a lovely, starry day from morning to midnight with loads of food, sweets, conversations and warmth.

Our families came for Christmas dinner and we drank mulled wine by the tree with the tree-candles lit, which had to be switched at least five times during the evening. A Christmas tree that my parents in law chose and chopped from their own land and a dinner everyone contributed to.

It was the first Christmas Eve in 18 years I spend together with both my parents, which was heart-warming in itself. I feel very happy about our Christmas Eve. Knowing that life is constantly changing and feeling convinced that all of us have to create our own traditions, yet feeling connected to a history that is carrying us forward. Old traditions in a new way, family gathered in a new place.  

Today is Christmas Day. A day that is all about peace and calmness. We continue eating our Christmas food left overs, drinking the whatever mulled wine is left with a melancholic feeling that it is all over. At the same time I have a strong sense that this is where it all begins. A newborn child in a manger, a magnificent star, and a world in fire. It is as always about creating the change we would like to see in the world and finding ways dealing with the despair. We rest today. Tomorrow we begin.  Have you heard the sound?  It is Christmas, one I have longed for, for years.