Growing up in my ultra Christian family
Christmas was always celebrated in the
best manner our means could provide.

My mother told me when she was a little girl
her family was very poor so she never really
had much of a Christmas celebration.

Because of this she always made a big intention
to celebrate the holiday in the best way
she could for her own children and family.

While raising my three daughters
I carried on the tradition my mother started.

It was very important to me to offer the
best Christmas celebration
I could create for anyone who was important to me.

For several weeks before the annual celebration
I went to work making lists,
buying materials and
making many original and heart inspired gifts.

For many days before the holiday I baked
many, many loaves of hand kneaded breads and
a freezer full of great varieties of cookies and chocolates.

After my mother and her affluent and powerful husband
took me to court in 2011 to gain custody
of my youngest daughter during a nasty divorce

I stopped participating in holidays with this family
or even continuing much of a relationship
with any of them except for my
ex-husband and our two oldest daughters.

For some shocking background information
about me and my family you can read my award winning story

Daddy Couldn’t Kill Me

Since that drastic change in my life I have reevaluated
my values therefore now I have spent Christmases
in a variety of places including my beloved family,

the Garden of Eden @gardenofeden,

my adopted Costa Rican family and now,
today I am in Panama City,

planning to be here through the holiday.

Here I am surrounded by people who
respect me and genuinely care
for me although I know them very little.

Since breaking away from my genetic family I have
stepped away from observing this holiday,
at least in the manner I have always known.

Since then, I have spent two Christmases
in Costa Rica with a Costa Rican family,

three Christmases with my Garden of Eden family
and now I am in Panama City at a





hostel full of artisans and street performers.

The Costa Ricans enjoyed a lot of family visiting
and a lot of food.

I didn’t see any gift exchanging.

There was a plastic Christmas tree.

There were family photos taken with it.

At the Garden of Eden,

in my experience,

the children received gifts from grandparents
but that was about all.

Since all the days at the GoE are amazing and awesome
it seems silly to set aside a special day for this type of thing.

We are all always grateful for our beautiful, magical lives.

It’s usually cold on Christmas day so at the Garden of Eden,

we spend a lot of time around our wood burning stove,

drinking hot herbal beverages,

eating amazing food,

writing steemit posts on our laptops and eventually
Everlove @everlove pulls out the musical instruments
for a tribal drum circle.

If it’s a lucky day
Sara @saramiller will entertain us
with one of her spontaneous raps.

Today I am in Casco Antiguo,
also known as Casco Viejo of Panama City.

I am expecting to have Christmas here at
the Hospedaje Casco Viejo, my favorite hostel in the city.

Many of the people here have been here for
several weeks so we have
created our own family dynamics.

I suspect that many of these
street artists and performers from all over the world





don’t give a crap about Christmas.

This video is a couple of quick interviews with Latin locals.

During a little walk around the historical area
I see many displays of traditional Christmas symbols.

For me,

it’s like a translation of the European idea of
Christmas symbols which take their origins from

ancient celtic and other pre-Christ northern european cultures.

I love how the solar powered lights charge during the day,

using no electricity.

My hostel is approximately in between two square parks.

This area is set out in Savannah, Georgia style,
parks designed to create community by their abundant placement.

I visited them both as the sun was going down.

Open air markets occupy the parks.

There is definitely the presence of religion here as

there is an old church next to the hostel and regularly it fills up.

That’s okay.

I don’t judge, only observe.

It feels good to be free of needing to obsessively
create a magically perfect Christmas or

to participate in the energetics of those who
base much weight of their self-worth
on the success of Christmas day.

Spending my day with people who have a
great magical life everyday anyways
is a better value for me.

That’s just where I’m at.

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad.

For my introduce myself post click here Let Me Tell You What a Badass I AM


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