Have you ever been pixied? At Christmastime or any other time? Have you ever been a pixie of any kind? Do you know the delight of receiving pixie gifts? Do you know the joy of pixie-gifting another? Now, why do I not say Christmas Elf rather than Christmas Pixie? I do know that some others would say Christmas Elf, but I have long said Pixie in this Christmas case. And it is because a Christmas Elf works for Santa, but the Christmas Pixie works alone. The pixie strikes spritely without instruction or warning. The pixie wishes not to be caught at his or her good gifting works. The pixie sneaks oh so slightly. The pixie thrills because their loving gift surprises the unsuspecting receiver.

A pixie gift can be an incredible edible, something useful or even something quite common. The pixie’s gift can come with a specific theme, or with simply the spirit of loving and giving. A pixie gift can be planned in advance, showing great thought and effort, or the pixie gift can be a simple spontaneous present. But, to be a pixie gift, it must certainly be anonymous. The pixie does not wish to be caught. The pixie’s giving is best unseen. The pixie wants the receiver to wonder and wonder, ‘who is the pixie?’. The pixie gift evokes wonderment. The pixie wishes the pixied-upon to think, ‘many around and about whom they know, might have loved them enough to give them the gift’. The Christmas Pixie wants the pixie gift receiver to feel loved.

My current pixie thoughts are precisely because we here have been in the midst of experiencing a carefully planned and generously sweet ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ Pixie gifting event. Once in my ever-lengthening life have I ever known this wonderment before. It is quite likely a rare pixie phenomenon. Like that last occurrence many years ago, I can guess who the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ Pixie might be, but I do not know for certain. I hold two or three guesses of neighborhood friends who could be our Christmas Pixies. Should I hide behind the curtains to peek at and maybe catch the pixie? No! That would spoil the magic of the pixie. The pixie does not wish me to know who he or she is. Yes, the Christmas Pixie must never be caught in the gifting act.

Could the pixie be more than one person? Oh, yes, most definitely. Pixies are often gifting and working in groups, and most often families. Having been a pixie so many times myself, I know that this is so. The joy of the pixie gifting is all the more heightened, the more of you who are in the giving pixie mix. The thrill of the planning is half the fun of it all (especially if more than one pixie is working together), and the other half of the fun is the stealthy pixie maneuvers. Some of us pixies, usually the older or slower ones, prefer the gathering and preparing of the gifts; and then others, most often the quick and the young, are keen to make the pixie giving deliveries at the doors.

Do pixies knock or ring and run? Sometimes. Other times, in the interest of being entirely stealthy, they sneak and drop, and then sneak away. But then, there is the pixie worry that roving dogs or coyotes will intercept the pixie gifts. I suppose it all depends on the neighborhood where the pixies are operating their giving campaign. Once upon a time, long before such as caller ID, we used to leave a pixie gift on a doorstep and then phone to let our pixied-upon family know to check at their front door for their surprise. Well, as pixies, you will have to decide for yourselves how you will not get caught at your task.

Now, to pixie once in a season, you might likely get away with your gifting, if you dash there and back nimbly and sprint swiftly, even if you knock or ring the bell at the door. But, if you choose to do the marathon of pixie-ing, and go for the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ Pixie epic, you will have your work cut out for you, because once you commit and deliver the First Day of Christmas Pixie gift, your pixied-upon family will know to watch for you for the next eleven nights! You must make your deliveries at different times after dark, and you might wish to use different pixie-runners and even different vehicles parked in different places each night. As you can see, the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ is the Pixie gauntlet. I wish you generous pixie wishes if you choose to try that herculean task.

But, whatever you choose, choose to try being a pixie if you never have before. And whatever kind of Holiday Pixie you feel compelled to be for that special space in time, if only to one or more houses, you will likely never regret nor forget it. To live the life of a pixie, if only for one or eight or twelve nights, is to live brighter and perhaps longer. Yes, to go a pixie-ing is heart-rewarding to both sides of the pixie gifting. And a pixie is a shining light in an all too dim world. So, get out and pixie! Let your light shine!