It’s a good idea here on Day 3 of “December Delights” to remember that none of this is intended to be a competition. The entire notion here is to spend some time seeking out and creating authentic experiences that reflect the actual values of the holiday season instead of getting tangled up in tinsel and appearances.
Today for the “reverse Advent calendar,” let’s add a jar of peanut butter to our growing box. Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to figure out where you’ll be delivering the finished box on Christmas Eve – if you haven’t, just make a note to take care of that in the next day or two. Trust me – this year (especially this year! 2020’s been hard for so many of us) you’ll have no shortage of food pantries and shelters who can use the box you’re putting together.
Remember to take care of yourself as well. Doing for others is a Very Good Thing, but if you don’t replenish your own bucket, you can’t give anyone else anything. For today’s “Diva drill,” please carve out five minutes (that’s all – just five minutes) and try a simple meditation. It’s hard to quiet our squirrel brains – there’s so much going on that it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwhirlwhirl. There are many very good resources for meditation (try here or here), but one of the simplest is to just set a five-minute timer, settle yourself somewhere comfortable, close your eyes and breathe in, then out. Count “one.” Do it again and count “two.” Continue that way – just breathe in, then out. Deepen the inhale and the exhale. If you lose count, just start over. Be patient with yourself.
On my bookshelf of “go to” books, I have a copy of Mary Flannery’s deeply wise and silly (yes, it’s entirely possible to be both simultaneously!) Unicorn Your Life. This book is all about making every aspect of your life – from your commute to your relationships to yourself – a bit more magical through a variety of techniques that focus on positivity and whimsy. It’s certainly my kind of book, and learning how to make a “Frappa-yummo” is a skill worth having. (Seriously. Click here.)
Continuing my “just do a little every day” approach to the holidays, today I switched out my everyday dishes for my holiday ones. (I know. It seems a little precious, but I really like having these – the gold-rimmed ones my husband found for me at a secondhand shop. They require hand-washing, but it’s only two of us in the house, so . . .) I also put out some of the holiday linens – I’m not going all out there – due to Covid, there will be no holiday parties this year. (Sigh.) Still, I wanted a few touches here and there. I have some of my mother’s mid-century tablecloths and seriously – wouldn’t YOU put out Santa-as-Jack-in-the-box-attended-by-elves-riding-Rudolph if you had it?
You know you would.
See you tomorrow!
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