Here in the US, the fall is full of holidays. Where I live, they sneak Halloween candy onto the shelves right before kids start school in August. In fact the way our grocery stores and Target behave, you would think fall is a four month celebration.
Ghosts and ghouls haunt us down shopping aisles, until they’re replaced just before Halloween with Santa and his elves. While Thanksgiving squeaks in between the two like a ninja. One day there’s a rush on free turkeys, the next Mariah Carey is singing to us through the intercom, telling us all she wants for Christmas.
Though it officially occurs four days into winter, Christmas looms large this time of year. Just a mere seven weeks from this Wednesday, we’ll all be saying,
“Where did the time go?”
So I’ve been asking myself, what do we need most in this season? During this time where there’s a short pause before Thanksgiving, what words do we need to hear as time begins to speed up daily until December 25th? And two words keep coming to mind:
Self Care
I don’t know about you, but the Holidays for me have always been a strange mix of emotions. Of course there’s the joy of seeing family, fun Christmas parties, lots of good food, and the opportunity to make wonderful memories with those we love. But there is also the stress of hard family dynamics or traveling to see loved ones. There’s the dilemma over what to bring to said Christmas parties. And then, there’s the over or emotional eating.
I don’t know about you, but the Holidays for me have always been a strange mix of emotions.
For me, it’s the latter. I realized a few years ago, that though I love parties and being with big groups of people—they also make me nervous. Add in an all you can eat buffet of food—and I am in trouble. This inevitably leads to an acid reflux flare up, or me being hard on myself for eating too much. Which definitely puts me in the mood to spread some Christmas Cheer (not).
All this to say, I am not fully sure what your pain points are when it comes to the holidays. I don’t know if it is difficult family relationships, social anxiety with a side of emotional eating, or even something you have yet to name. But whatever it is, if you too feel strong, contradictory emotions when it comes to the Holidays—you are not alone.
If you too feel strong, contradictory emotions when it comes to the Holidays—you are not alone.
This month on the blog, we’ll be talking about what it looks like to care for ourselves this Holiday season in a way that enables us to both care for our loved ones and experience peace and joy. Though it’s a lot to tackle in a few short weeks, I hope to share some things I am learning on my journey with Self Care. Ones, that I believe will help you too. But first,
What excites you about this (fast) coming season?
Have you named the things that make your Holiday’s challenging?
Do you feel mentally and/or emotionally overloaded by both real life and the approaching Holiday’s? If so, sign up for my email list and get your FREE copy of my Five Steps to Declutter Your Mind, to help you find clarity and peace this season.
