Latest / No Shrinking Violets Podcast for Women / Intentional Holidays: Traditions, Boundaries, And What Really Matters

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Intentional Holidays: Traditions, Boundaries, And What Really Matters · No Shrinking Violets Podcast for Women

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, welcome to a mini episode of No Shrinking Violets.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I walked in the door about 20 minutes ago from a trip to see my husband's father.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: We live in Pennsylvania.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: He lives in Ohio.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: He is 99 years old.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And normally I plan ahead.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I rarely record an episode.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, not a full-length one for sure, but I rarely even record a mini episode less than, oh my gosh, now it's 12 hours till it's going to be live.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: But this time of year, as we go into Thanksgiving and then the Christmas holiday at the end of the year, it feels like the roller coaster coming down the other side of the hill after it has clicked to the top.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it just gains more and more momentum as things get towards the bottom.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm guessing that you can relate.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we're hosting our family this year.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: We celebrate on Christmas Eve.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's often about 20 people.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know many of you probably have larger gatherings, but that is something that needs to be planned for.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have some pretty significant things before that, including a family member who is very dear, dear to us, that's having some major surgery.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So there are a lot of things happening.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it always makes me think about how I want to be intentional for this time of the year, because even if you don't celebrate some type of year-end holiday, whether it's Hanukkah or Christmas or Kwanzaa or whatever it might be, I think about the winter solstice because you know I'm a nature girl.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the days are certainly quite short.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I try to really focus on what that means as far as rest.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we certainly need to slow down because I mean, right now it's a quarter of 8 p.m.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would be probably still outside if it was summer.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: But when it gets dark sooner, there's a lot more cozying up, a lot more tea drinking.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I try to really focus on how I want to spend my days and making sure that when I look at each day, or especially when I look at things a week at a time, how am I going to have time in there that is really for rest and to slow down because it is what we need?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, often I talk about rest and the cycle of nature, and our trees are starting to get ready to rest now because there are so many leaves on our lawn right now.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But as you're thinking about the end of the year, the days being shorter, wherever you are, whatever you celebrate, think about the concept of intentionality.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: What do holidays mean for you if you celebrate?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because often, especially in our social world, there is such a huge focus on buying gifts and spending money and you know doing things like even celebrating with alcohol.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe that isn't something that you want to prioritize.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if you think about what are the things that make this time of year special for you, are there traditions that you want to carry forward?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you have to do everything that your family always did.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Make some traditions of your own if you have your own family, or pick out one or two that are really special to focus on and make memories because I can tell you that even though I love buying gifts and I love wrapping gifts, and I have huge plastic totes of ribbon that are color-coded by container, I remember really special gifts.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess that's something that we often do, but what I remember more are the memories, are the funny things that happened, or the special things that happened, or who was with us each year to celebrate.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So take some time to intentionally slow down and intentionally focus on what you want this holiday to look like for you, or this end of year, or this winter solstice, whatever, whatever you celebrate as we're approaching Thanksgiving, which is only about a week and a half away, as I'm recording this.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how do you want to celebrate.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't feel like you have to do everything, because I think that's when we start to allow stress to win.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't feel like you have to make every food that your mom always made.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm saying that because that used to be me.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the things that make it special, the ways you want to make it special, who do you want to gather with, and try to focus on those things the most.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on the things that mean something, what the traditions are that you want to pass along, and how you want to make memories.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I am gonna actually be heading to bed in about an hour and a half.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for listening, and until next time, go out into the world and be the amazing, resilient, vibrant violet that you are.