When I was a kid, my mom, sister, and I would meet up at my grandma\u2019s house with my aunts and cousins and we\u2019d all go caroling around grandma\u2019s neighborhood. Sometimes, it was so cold I swore my nose would fall off. Other years, we\u2019d get a warm front and marvel at the stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No matter the weather, everyone knew we\u2019d be out smiling and singing, laughing and swaying. That sense of community gave me so much love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandma loved the song, \u201cSilver Bells.\u201d It didn\u2019t matter what time of year it was, when she did the dishes, she\u2019d be singing about that \u201cring-a-ling.\u201d The heat of summer\u2026a rainy spring day\u2026same song, same happy grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As her health failed, everyone got busy taking care of her and starting their own lives. After she died, her voice still sang to me, but the words grew softer. \u201cChildren laughing\u2026people passing\u2026meeting smile after smile\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I missed caroling, but that seemed like a thing of the past. No one seemed to do it anymore. It was hard enough to get to know my neighbors in general. Everyone was so busy with work, play dates, this event and that. Plus, not everyone celebrates a holiday this time of year. Having found my spiritual home in Paganism, I love marveling at the start of winter on Yule and know how annoying it can be when people just assume that someone celebrates Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of going door-to-door, I volunteered to bell ring for charity and sang the most universal carols during my shifts. It was impossible to keep from bouncing around, dancing like a wreath about to fall when singing Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bell Rock, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The response was full of the same warmth and love I missed from my grandma\u2019s neighborhood. The smiles and donations I received reminded me that celebrating the season is about sharing in life\u2019s love no matter what our differences may be.
Then, when I became a mother, my children encouraged more singing. Whether quietly crooning lullabies or making up our own silly songs about stinky socks and trying not to sleep at bedtime, the music carried us through the worst of their earliest struggles and the best of their happy little cuddles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, we created our own new family tradition to sing to our neighbors without knocking on their doors and interrupting their lives. Every year, on the first day of winter (during our Yule celebration), we light a bonfire in the backyard. We circle around it and sing songs celebrating the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We belt Yuletide carols for everyone to hear, and dance around the flames in the cold. Thankfully, so far, no one has complained, and we keep it short and sweet. Sometimes people even open their windows and join in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This keeps my grandmother\u2019s tradition alive in our own way. After having lived in our neighborhood for a few years now, we\u2019re set on inviting some neighbors this year because there is something about singing together that unleashes the true holiday spirit. It\u2019s an inviting activity, raising your voice with others, that has become my \u201csilver bell.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was a kid, my mom, sister, and I would meet up at my grandma\u2019s house with my aunts and cousins and we\u2019d all go caroling around grandma\u2019s neighborhood. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_gspb_post_css":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"essay_type":[46],"essay-category":[],"class_list":["post-20710","essay","type-essay","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","essay_type-features"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/20710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/20710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"essay_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay_type?post=20710"},{"taxonomy":"essay-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay-category?post=20710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}