Monday, December 8, 2008

Altering A Christmas Tradition -- Best Gift Ever

Of course a Christmas tree is must -- every year we put one up in the living room the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and it stays up in until January 2. My December budget has always dictated the sized of the our tree -- usually around 5 feet tall and I gravitate towards a Douglas Fir type tree. Then loading, nearly stuffing, it with white lights and decorate it with silver, gold, red and green ornaments that have been collected over the years. When all is done the Christmas tree looks ... perfect ... in my opinion. Well this year I stepped out of that comfort zone. I didn't mean to and to be honest to felt a little uncomfortable at first. The kids and I were visiting a friend after school a few days ago and it just so happen that her father-in-law had "weeded" some saplings off his property in the mountains and brought her family three trees early in the day. My friend asked if we would like one. Something came over me and I accepted the frail, meager 7' gift -- the kids were thrilled! All the way home all I could think of was how am I going to put lights on this tree? It reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree only much taller. Well we managed and the tree is adorable. It is definitely not "my" traditional tree. Seeing the kids proud of their tree made the change worth it to me. I am proud of myself too for flowing with this -- observing my uneasiness about this and letting it go. I truly love this tree and it makes it one of the best gifts I have ever received!
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Meet Copia

In Roman mythology, Copia is the Goddess of Abundance. Her name means ‘abundance’. In addition it means ‘plenty’, ‘wealth’, ‘opportunity’ and ‘resources’. She carries a cornu copia overflowing with the fruits of harvest and wealth. “The Horn of Plenty”; a magical goat’s horn the gives everything anyone desires. It is important to mention that Copia is often associated with Fortuna, the Roman Goddess of Fortune, Luck and Fate.

But I did not purposefully name this blog after Copia. I was looking for a word that described a life of truth and integrity. I like the word authentic; Authentic Life. But it appears that many others on the internet like that word too. I also like the word intelligent; Intelligent Life. But John Tesh uses the phrase “Intelligent Life” on his radio shows. Then came the word copious; Copious Life.

Copious

Pronunciation:

\kō-pē-əs\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

14th century Middle English, from Latin copiosus, from copia abundance, from co- + ops wealth

Synonyms:

Ample; abundant; plentiful; plenteous; opulent; rich; full; exuberant; overflowing; full.

Definition:

1 a: yielding something abundantly; a copious harvest, copious springs. b: plentiful in number; copious references to other writers.

2 a: full of thought, information, or matter b: profuse or exuberant in words, expression, or style; a copious talker.

3: present in large quantity: taking place on a large scale; copious weeping, copious food and drink.


Well, okay so this word will do. I know I want plenty of what ever it is I desire in my life; money, healthy, patience, joy etc., … So I’ll sign up and create a copious life!

When pronounced, copious sounds very similar to Copia’s. After researching and discovering a linguistic connection these two words have, I thought Copia was quite nifty! Since this blog is about money and I think women (mostly) will read this blog, I gave Copia a purse (because most women can relate to having a purse) instead of a goat’s horn.

So there you have it. That is who Copia is. Hopefully she resonates inside each of us.

Cheers to a life of abundance – A Copious Life!