Hi Friend,
Every December, I have a little planning ritual.
I ask myself one very simple question:
What kinds of experiences am I interested in having with my family and friends this season?
I let myself get audacious and creative. Once I feel satisfied, I trim it down to the most delicious essentials—the people, places, and activities that truly fill my tank.
Once I have that streamlined list, I block time in the calendar and I make it happen.
Contrast that with how I used to do December.
I would say “yes” to stuff, with only one real criteria: Is my calendar open?
And then come December 24th, I was a snarling, twitching purple minion sitting in Christmas Eve mass thinking dark thoughts about getting in my car and driving to Mexico.
This is NOT how I want to show up to my Christmas experience.
Here’s what I now believe: December can be a joy for grown ups.
It can be a time to connect with the people who nourish us (vs. the people with whom we have to make small talk). It can be a time to get cozy and feel deep gratitude for the abundance, and the dumb luck, of being alive.
December can be a time to do less, not more.
But that version of December is only available to us if we have a guiding vision.
Your thought experiment for this week is to take 15 minutes and answer this question:
What kinds of experiences am I interested in having with my family and friends this holiday season?
Then edit it down to the most delicious essentials. And then CALENDAR those essentials. Wrap yourself up in the comfort of the plans you WANT to have, vs. the plans that you secretly dread.
That’s the kind of holiday cheer I’m into spreading.
Shine on, my friend.
B
