A Simple Holiday Gift

If you are looking for a quick and easy Christmas present, consider the “Learning Jar.”

Four years ago for Christmas, I gave my husband an old canning jar and a small box with 104 pieces of paper in it (52 each of two different colors). This became our Learning Jar. Each week on Sunday we write down something we learned, appreciated, or remembered. Each memory is dated and an explanation listed below it so we can remember later what the specific phrase was about. An example would be: Sometimes talking to others about their issues will open your eyes to your own – Talking to Susan & my thoughts on Barbara. Sometimes we are not together on a Sunday and then we will either do them as soon as we are together or the following Sunday (just the day we picked to do this). But no matter what, they are done.

Then on New Year’s Eve or Day we sit down and pull each of the papers out. We each read our own colored paper including the date it was written. This allows us to discuss what we were thinking when we wrote it and how we felt. By doing this over the past few years we have figured out patterns of heavy stress at certain times of the year. We have been able to reminisce about people and pets we have loved and lost. We have come to realize how much we change in a years’ time. We have identified thought processes that are constants. And we spend time together reminding each other how much we mean to each other.

We are completing our fourth year of doing this activity this year. And believe it or not, after that first year my husband was excited to help pick out the color of construction paper we would use and even cut out the 104 pieces of paper with me. He has already asked me what color we are using for 2019.

This little activity does not seem like much but it has become a tradition for our little family that I thought others might appreciate. If you don’t want to do this with a spouse you could find a friend who might enjoy it. This gives you both an excuse to get together and discuss your lives over the past year(s). For us, we now review previous years with the last year to identify patterns of stressful time, compare how we have changed and also stayed the same, and remind us of what we have lost and gained over the years. This reminiscing really reminds you to appreciate the journey that is life. 

*The Learning Jar & box have experienced some wear & tear over the years. I decorated the box with our spirit animals – a hedgehog for me & a mountain goat for my husband. You can decorate however you desire. All of the supplies are easy to find at a craft store like Michael’s.