2015 / Dec / 15

How do you find Christmas in Australia?

With Advent & Christmas just around the corner, I wonder, how do you celebrate this time of year in your home?

Do you joyfully embrace the twinkling lights, bouncy carols and the guy in the big red suit? Maybe you prefer the quiet reverence of a manger and a child of light? Or perhaps you do your very best to avoid the whole thing at all?! It’s a funny kind of question but I’ll ask it anyway, how do you find Christmas in Australia?

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Finding our own ways to present Christmas to our family is one of the joys and challenges of parenthood – especially within the busy-ness and consumeristic overload that often surrounds this time of year not to mention our own questions around which stories feel right for us!

My own search for meaningful qualities behind the season is what inspired my Australian Christmas Tale & Christmas Song titled Finding Christmas. It tells the story of a little boy searching for the more popular aspects of the festive season within the unique landscape of the Aussie bush, and is filled with relevant symbols and imagery to suit the long hot Christmas Summer of the southern hemisphere.

I chose to celebrate and give thanks to Mother Earth as the framework for both the story and the song in honour of the rich green and lush landscapes most relevant to Australia right now. I also decided to keep the symbology super simple to highlight how the smallest treasures found everyday in our natural world can be the most satisfying and wondrous gifts of all. 

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Nature is packed with everyday miracles, and I especially wanted to focus on bringing the joy and wonder of Christmastime (two of my favourite qualities of the season) into the beauty of the bush or backyard, or wherever nature occurs for the child when breathing in the story.

A nice way to pass the four weeks of Advent is to spend a week celebrating each of the four ‘nature kingdoms’ starting with the Mineral Kingdom during the first week, followed by the Plant Kingdom, then Animal Kingdom, and finally, the Human Kingdom. I love focussing on each of these vital aspects of the natural world – of which without any of them we simply could not live – and I am forever grateful to Steiner Education for bringing this idea (& so many others!) into my family home. 

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Tuning into what’s happening in nature at this time of year is also a great way to ground our little people (and ourselves!) amidst the whirl wind of Christmas events and built up expectations of new shiny things.

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Another thing I really enjoy about Christmas is getting together as family and friends and singing. Yes some of the words of the carols (that seem to flow out of us almost unconsciously!) are completely outdated and ridiculous given the climate we live in, but the one good thing about the old jingle jangle is that we all know it and can sing along together. So, when I wrote and recorded the Summertime Christmas Song, it was absolutely essential to me that there were lots of us singing (and playing) together. It definitely has a festive feel & you can have a listen to the whole track below.

The story and song are available to purchase as a digital download here or download your FREE written version here.

And don’t forget to pop over to my previous blog with lots of ideas on how to celebrate a simple nature-filled Christmas with your little ones.

Seasons blessings to you & good luck finding Christmas wherever you are!

x Annie

PS: A super big thank you again to the wonderfully talented Jodie Hewett for the beautiful artwork for this cover.

Listen to Summertime Christmas Song in the media player below or

Click here to purchase the audio download of Finding Christmas including the story & Summertime Christmas Song or

Click here for a FREE download of the written version of Finding Christmas.

 

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Annie Bryant is a storyteller & musician from the Far South East Coast of Australia who loves to share her seasonally-inspired stories and songs for children at live performances and on The Seasonal Collection of Winter, Spring, Summer & Autumn recordings. Listen to a sample of her recorded stories and songs below or click here to find out more.   

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