My obsession with paths goes way back. When I was five, and my mom wanted to do something special for me, she’d say to herself, “I think I’ll take Teeters riding on the trails.” (My dad had nicknamed me Teeters because I teetered while I was learning to walk.) As mom tells the story, I didn’t like riding on the paved roads–just the dirt trails that meandered through the woods.

My husband can attest to my trail obsession. Every time we step foot in a forest, he hears, “Wait. I need a picture of this path.” I’ve even played with the idea of opening up a folder in my picture library just for paths.

You get the point. It runs deep. I think it shows there are so many beautiful, yet different, ways out there to travel to a place. Beyond that, when my husband and I walk the same trail, we notice very different things. For example, he’ll spot a log invaded by termites and I’ll notice a dew drop hanging off the tip of a leaf. We all have different take-aways, even when we walk the same path.

This changes, too, over time. What we noticed five years ago will be quite different as our consciousness expands (or contracts.) We get to choose which path we take. We also have paths we have wired into our traditions. We are the authors and creators of the life we live while we’re here on earth in every moment.

That brings me to the holidaze. Sometimes it feels like they take on a path of their own as we slip into deep unconscious oblivion. It’s a path that starts on a hamster wheel and keeps us running until we can’t run any more.

Whether it feels like it or not, this is a choice. We are the designers of how it’s going to flow. We can decide to see the beauty and appreciate everybody’s customs, especially those different than our own. For example, we celebrate Christ-makkah.

I love the beauty of traditions all kinds of different people adopt. I think it’s what makes the world beautiful. If we let it, it’s what leads us down the path to understand the Light of all lights. That understanding will help us to shine and light up the world.

Enjoy each moment of your time during the season, which ever path you choose. May each step down that path be filled with light and love.