A World of 'Pure Imagination' this Christmas - Emma Coonan's monthly column

Against a backdrop of chilly mornings and evenings, flickering lights and decorative wreaths adorn windows and doors, welcoming in the festive season. With a sigh of relief, out of office autoreplies are being set all across the country, and puddings and pies are filling up shopping baskets. The Christmas and holiday period has arrived.

A new start for old traditions

The first clue that we were getting ready to celebrate our first Christmas with a little one in the house was finding ourselves picking out a tree last weekend – a good week earlier than usual. One of the first things we noticed when we arrived was the abundance of choice, and people choosing. This was a stark reminder that we were early to the party this year, and that our ‘early’ is everyone else’s ‘on time.’

While the tree has always been one of the favourite events of this season, we have usually approached it with a pragmatic view - that the later we get it the longer it will last. And of course busy work schedules often meant we didn’t get near tree shopping until the last few were left standing. This year, it seemed right to start these traditions a little earlier, as we found ourselves excited to share them.

As we began decorating, a job that spanned four days due to the many breaks for feeds, naps, and all that goes with it, it occurred to me that old traditions really do get a new lease of life when they are shared with someone new, especially someone who is seeing all of these events for the first time.

Simply look around and view it

To help inspire festive spirit as we embarked on the early tree decorating, my husband made a Christmas playlist. When I heard Gene Wilder’s gentle voice singing ‘A World of Pure Imagination,’ it immediately brought me back to my own childhood. I could remember many Christmases spent watching Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a film that captures magic, imagination, and fantastical worlds so vividly.

I found myself listening to the lyrics through my own childhood lens, as I often do when a song from the past returns unexpectedly, remembering year on year watching in delight the chocolate river, the lifting fizzy drinks, and the boat tunnel.
However this time, in the spirit of old and new, I could imagine how a new pair of eyes and ears might delight at such imagination, upon experiencing it all for the first time.

Listening more closely to the song, I was struck by the simple yet poignant reminder that “If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it.”

This reminder that the everyday world we all often race through can be a wonderland for a child, full of vivid colours, sights, and sounds. It occurred to me that just like the practices of mindfulness, there can be wonder in the everyday if we take pause to see it, and to remember what it must be like for those seeing it for the first time.

A World of Pure imagination

As the Christmas and holiday season emerges, it can bring a mix of enjoyment and stresses, as we can find ourselves rushing about, panic buying, or navigating complicated situations.

It isn’t always easy to slow down, take pause, or enjoy the spirit of the season we may have enjoyed when we were younger.
This season, if the opportunity presents itself to return to the simple magic of the season, why not consider taking even a small pause to enjoy it.

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Whether this means seeing the season through the eyes of another, or returning to something which brought you joy in the past, taking a moment to revisit ‘a world of pure imagination’ may help our wellbeing practice this year.

As Willie Wonka reminded me this week, “there is no life I know to compare with the world of pure imagination. Living there, you’ll be free, if you truly wish to be.” While I accept it is not realistic to live there all the time, a visit there from time to time may help reduce our stress levels, and remind us of perhaps simpler times which we may get a chance in our own way to replicate this year.

A final thought

The festive season can often bring a mix of joys and stressors, as we navigate and also enjoy events over the coming weeks.
If we find ourselves in need of a moment’s pause this year, perhaps in the spirit of simple imagination, we could “hold (y)our breath, make a wish, count to three” until we find our feet again.

Emma Coonan (pictured above) is an Accredited Psychotherapist with IAHIP and ICP, Lectures in Psychotherapy, and is a qualified Adult Education Trainer. After leaving Coláiste Phobal Roscrea, Emma studied English and Media in Maynooth University, before combining her Psychotherapy training with experience in the corporate world. Emma focuses on applying Psychotherapy practices for everyday living, through developing resilience, stress response, and mindfulness practice.