Antici – pation

Although we’re constantly being told by those who seem to know that we should live in the moment, I think there’s a lot to be said for anticipating what’s to come as well. A lot of the pleasure of going out, seeing your friends or a delicious meal has already been had in the anticipation of it. I think this year has forced us to live in the moment a great deal, for good or (frequently) bad, and we’ve definitely had enough of it. What we crave is the joy of planning and looking forward to something, secure in the knowledge that it’ll actually happen.

For instance, being on holiday is a great pleasure (at least I think it is, it’s been so long now), and reminding ourselves to put down our cameras from time to time and just enjoy it is no bad thing. But when you’re back at home and trying to recall everything you’ve done, those photos are invaluable. I make photobooks in order to weed out the few good pictures from the many thousands we have taken, place them in chronological order and then label everything. This is the only way I can sort out the blur of temples, forts, palaces and mosques swirling in my brain after a holiday. Well, maybe not after a trip to Wales. I must be thinking of India. Still, you get the double benefit of enjoying the moment and also reliving the past.

But how wonderful is the anticipation of a holiday? All the initial research, the itinerary planning, the booking and the daydreaming about everything you’ll see and experience. I have concluded that 50% of the enjoyment of a holiday for me is actually being on it, but 25% is fondly reminiscing and 25% is looking forward to it. I think I need to have a word with those mindfulness gurus.

Then of course there’s Christmas. I will confess straight away that I love Christmas despite the fact that I have no religious convictions whatsoever. I love the music (no matter how schmaltzy), the decorations, the TV specials, the cards, the food, the lights, the silly games and the licence to drink fizzy wine all day. Or is that just me? But for me Christmas is not just one day – I wring every last possible ounce of enjoyment from it by making sure that the anticipation of Christmas lasts a full 24 days.

There are strict rules, self-imposed. No Christmas music is allowed before December 1^st and I have also decided that this is the date I will start to wear the beautiful Christmas masks sewn by my neighbour when I go shopping (such a strange year). This is also the day when my battered old advent calendar is taken out of its envelope and pressed into service for yet another year. Everything else flows from there right up until the day itself – the flurry of tree buying, house decorating, card writing and present wrapping. At some point in there I also buy a ‘bumper’ TV guide and excitedly circle everything I plan to watch. Of course, there’s a Christmas jigsaw as well. Or maybe two. It’s hard to imagine how the actual day could compete with a build-up like this. Maybe living in the future is the way to go. At least for the moment.