She stopped me midway through our conversation and after sipping one more time on her hot drink said, “OK, you win, the half and half is the best option!” After assembling together my client Christmas gifts on an early Friday morning in what looked like Santa’s workshop, with unfinished boxed goods everywhere, bows of every color and boxes with all kinds of shred, my friend Rosanne offered me a cup of hot chocolate once a portion of gifts was completed. She looked at me puzzled when I told her how I prefer my hot chocolate, but decided to give my way a try. That same night Rosanne hosted a Christmas party at her house and offered her guests what she called “Yuliya’s half and half hot chocolate recipe,” which also was a hit with her guests. Sharing the adventures of the night with me, she told me how she learned a valuable lesson from trying something new. “You think there’s only one way of doing something,” she started . . . “if it’s hot chocolate then it’s either with water or milk, one doesn’t even imagine a different approach, but there’s a world of creative ways of how we can approach business, our to do lists, those hundreds of things we need to do as business owners and son on.”
Rosanne, obviously made my day, by giving my idea a try, but I also couldn’t help but agree with her conclusion. As I’m trying really hard to redo last year’s Christmas and the years’ past, and it’s definitely not working to the point that I’m giving up on this whole Christmas idea, maybe there’s yet another way I can enjoy this beautiful season and not have regrets after. Maybe it’s OK to let go of my own made up traditions, that I simply don’t have time to keep this year around, and instead I can be creative with the few minutes that I do have. Maybe I can file for an extension and have Christmas until the end of January? But while I’m still figuring that out, I’m thankful for what I do have. Those ten minutes of chatting with Dina in our living room on a cold December night. The beautiful frost that reappears every morning and reminds me of my childhood of waking up to a winter wonderland just outside my window. The many shoots I’ve been doing what seems like twice a day, which remind me of just how much I love people, love shooting, love serving in such a small yet beautiful way. And the list can go on… Happy Monday world, and maybe after all I’ll give Christmas another try.
