Keeping the Season Merry and Bright

This is my mindset for the 2020 holiday season...  Keep the season Merry & Bright.  Fill it with love and light and joy.  Start where I am, use what I have, and do what I can.

That includes turning inward a little, as someone with some risk factors for covid-19 complications, our family has already been isolating for nearly 9 months.  This is not easy.  But I’ve found my house is feeling more and more like my home.  You can’t ignore the bits that need to be rearranged or made cozier when you’re not distracted by running kids here and there anymore.  It’s become my sanctuary.  It’s become my respite from a crazy world that sometimes doesn’t make sense.  I feel safe and cozy.

This is some serious hygge type stuff, isn’t it?  I’ve never studied up on the concept really, but I looked it up once when I was wondering “how is that word pronounced?”  In a normal winter world, this hygge concept seems really important, because it can be SO easy to get down on all the things about an enduring winter world that seem to never go away…cold, gloom, rain, snow, ice, etc.

But if we look for the good, we will find it.  If we create the good, we will enjoy it even more as it is catered perfectly to us where we are and what we need.

My family moved from Washington state to sunny Arizona a couple of years ago, so I don’t feel the hygge urge as much now in the winter time.  But covid-19 isolation has the same kind of “buckle your seatbelt and get ready for the long haul” feeling.  (Oh, and I know about that too – my family and I traveled around the USA for 2 years…)

It’s the mindset that matters.  Snuggle up – turn on the fireplace on the TV (...LOVE that) – read the books you always wanted to read – try the hobby you always wanted to try – make video calls to friends and family part of your regular schedule - reach out to those who are lonely - and find contentment.

And interestingly, as I was researching more about allergies during this time I read that allergies are impacted by stress.  So, by settling in and keeping stress low, you’ll be doing your allergies as well as your mind and body a favor.  To find out more about that, check out this link: https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/is-stress-making-your-allergy-symptoms-worse

Wishing you a Merry and Bright holiday season!