I had two holiday-related dreams this week. One of them was uplifting and inspiring. The other one – not so much.

In the first dream, I was watching an awards show on TV, and a big song-and-dance number was going on. The performers were all dressed in robes of either gold or white, creating a festive and majestic look. At one point they started marching across the stage in a routine that reminded me of the precision drills bands often perform on the football field during halftime.

Every so often they would form a single line, alternating gold and white, and sing the refrain: “When we all come together, then nobody will have a cranky day.” It certainly wasn’t very poetically worded, and I can’t help laughing now when I think about how silly it sounds. But I also think it’s a great sentiment – during the holiday season especially, but during the rest of the year, too. I love the idea of everyone coming together, and no one having “a cranky day.”

My other dream wasn’t nearly as endearing. In fact, it was rather unsettling – in part because it was more reality-based. It had to do with a holiday dinner my Toastmasters Club is sponsoring next week. I’ve been asked to facilitate a holiday version of Table Topics, which is something we do at every Toastmasters meeting. It involves presenting a thought-provoking or general-interest question, quote or comment, and calling on one of the members to give a one-to-two-minute response. The purpose of Table Topics is to help us learn to think on our feet and organize our thoughts quickly, which are good skills for everyone to have.

What I intend to do – and this is a Spoiler Alert for anyone in my Toastmasters Club who’s planning to attend the dinner – is to type up some holiday-themed questions on strips of paper that I’ll then wrap around candy canes. The people I call on will pick a candy cane, then read and respond to the question attached to it.

In my dream, I had just arrived at the restaurant on the day of the party when I realized I forgot to bring the candy canes. As I raced home to get them, I remembered that I hadn’t typed up any questions yet. And as I tried to type them up – not on my computer, but on a very old, old-fashioned typewriter – I kept making mistakes and having to start over. Fortunately, that’s when I woke up.

I suspect that my first dream came from the festive nature of the holiday season, and the second from the extra chores and activities we cram into our schedules at this time of year. But I’ll consider them to be both a warning and a reminder – to schedule some planning time and quiet time in between all the hustle and bustle. To celebrate the majesty and camaraderie of the holiday. And to enjoy coming together with family, friends, and acquaintances throughout the season.

So nobody will have a cranky day.

December 14, 2019
©Betty Liedtke, 2019

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