“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents!”

And so starts the story of ‘Little women,” a copy of which my Mum gave to me as an audiobook when I was about 10. I listened to that book over and over again- so many times that some thirty eight years later I can still quote verbatim, big chunks of it. But what did it mean to me as a young girl and what messages was my Mum encouraging me to embrace (apart from it being a wonderful story for anyone to read)?

The story goes on, as many of us know. In that first chapter the girls in the story give their breakfast to a destitute family. They forgo their Christmas gifts and by doing so learn the value of giving and sharing.

Little Women built on the values I was taught both at home and at my rather wacky first primary school. It shaped the career I chose. Thirty eight years after my first encounter with Jo, Meg and the other Little Women, I took part in ‘Go Deep,’ an experience I will never forget. I spent a week on the Southside of Edinburgh where I emersed myself into a community experience, living and working alongside citizens of that neighbourhood. Hearing struggles and having struggles myself; listening to stories of hardship, laughing, dancing, crying, sharing and learning what it really means to be human- deeply. some of life experiences of participants; the stories they shared humbled me to the core.

Remembering my own family and some real struggles affecting some of us, I took my Go Deep experience one step further. I asked my family to cut down on Christmas present buying for me and took part in Sleep in The Park. During this experience, I spent a night with 10,000 others in Scotland’s city parks in December. We raised over 3.5 million for charities supporting homeless people. After this, I joined our local foodbank, Moving on Mid Argyll (MoMA) and spent a day sorting and delivering Christmas parcels for people in need in my own community.

We all ‘get’ that supporting others through charity is a good thing (even considering the political faux pas that contributes to hardship in the first place). We all ‘get’ that my taking part in Go Deep, Sleep in The Park and MoMA is honourable. But its much deeper than that- from my recent experiences I have been able to put what is really close to my heart into action. And its not all one sided- I learnt so much from the people I shared that week with in Edinburgh. I learnt that I need far less materially than I thought, but most importantly, my experiences have brought me closer to what really matters- each other, our shared existence and the relationships we have together- with those in our families, neighbourhoods and much further afield. Forget our barriers and reach out to each other; we have far more in common with each other than the ‘things’ we put in our way to separate us.

So thank you, Mum for helping me develop my values. Thank you to those around me who teach me everyday. Thank you to all those fabulous Edinburgh Southsiders. Thank for helping me let go and to do what feels right. Merry Christmas one and all xx