To Everything its Season: Shopping Redeemed

I was in Target last month when the red-shirted, khaki crew was setting up the final touches on their Halloween display, and next to them I saw this:

Target - September 21, 2012

And while I was partly sickened by the timing, I had a rush of excitement, because I suddenly remembered last year.  And I decided that very moment, that of course, I am doing it again!

Last year, I found an pre-Advent practice, a way to Sabbath in the season. And I loved it.
My practice reminds me of what a Jewish friend once described as Friday's market hustle and bustle and preparing the Shabbat meal and gathering the family and setting the table, so that when the sun goes down and Sabbath begins, you are ready.  It's a timing thing, the joy-filled work before the rest - a way that I created to help myself be as fully present as I am able to be in what I truly care about.

The Halloween retail season is in full force now, and that means just a week or two before my practice begins.  My preparation for the waiting, my nesting before the darkness, my activity that anticipates anticipation.  I'm telling you, it's going to be fun!

(And, this year, I hope to do it even better. I am putting my Christmas budget on a pre-paid Visa card so I don't go over...so I am not tempted, as I may sometimes be by the impending holiday schmaltz, to get just one more thing).

You're invited to join me, if you'd like.   Here's my practice.


And since this one is going to be with me for a while, I can tell, I need a name for this season of preparation...