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Health & Fitness

Have a Mindfully Merry Holiday

It was the strangest thing! I got up Sunday morning and went downstairs to make some tea. There, sitting among our newly purchased poinsettia plants, were a bunch of Modern Day Muses. Albert had just finished the Sunday funnies and he and Muse Song were brainstorming how Sally Forth might do things differently this year while on the exhausting annual tree shopping excursion with her nutty husband, Ted. Bea Silly was dancing around the Thanksgiving tree; Shadow was behind the tree and Audacity and Spills were re-arranging the decorations on the tree. Marge was looking at her watch and tapping her feet, waiting to get started. Lull was actually in the living room watching the reflection of the sunrise on the house across the street. Aha-Phrodite jumped out of her seat as soon as I came into the room. She is always paying attention so she noticed me first.

“What is this”, I said. “An intervention?”

They made room for me at the table and invited me to sit. Bea Silly made as if to pull the chair out from under me but Muse Song chided her and then brought me a mug of tea. Lull drifted in to take her seat. I noticed The Bodyguard at the door.

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Aha-Phrodite started.

Brilliant!

“Okay, Kathy, it’s December 1st. We know what that means in the world of mortals. It’s crazy time. You have parties the next 2 weekends, shopping, decorating, and card writing; then there’s wrapping and you probably think you should bake some cookies. I know you don’t even want to start thinking about Christmas Eve and day and the cooking and entertaining. You just finished a three day Thanksgiving marathon. And plenty of other folks out there had a double holiday with Hanukkah on top of Thanksgiving. Feels like a lot, huh.”

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“I know,” I said, “I’m exhausted just thinking about it.”

“Well, how about trying something a little different. How about a Mindfully Merry Holiday?”

“What would that be like?”

Aha-Phrodite continued. “Reflect on prior years, what you did, how you felt, what you wished you had done differently after it was all over. Pay attention to what bubbles up or what wants to be heard. Think about what is really meaningful and can be kept and what might be allowed to go.

The other muses chimed in.

Albert: What's one small thing you might do differently?

Muse Song: Can you bask in gratitude for the holiday traditions that have meaning for you?

Bea Silly: How could you make some of this fun? Think about what you ”get to” do!

Audacity: Can you be daring and break out of the holiday routines that don’t serve you anymore?

Spills: How about if you let some things be just good enough? Not perfect? Maybe lower your standards a bit?

Lull: Where can you take a break? Maybe try something different? A short walk after work?

Shadow: Where can you be more accepting of your own contributions to the frenzy instead of pointing to others?

Marge: Well, if you’re going to do some of this stuff anyway, can you break it down into really small steps?

Bodyguard: I’m here to protect you and remind you to create your version of a Mindfully Merry Holiday, no one else’s.

I sat and thought, the hot tea warming me in the chilly early morning. I suppose I could find ways to pause in the middle of things, ways to regenerate. Walks are a good idea; making sure I go to my watercolor class, no matter what. For some things I’ll ask myself the small question “what would make this fun?” For other things I’ll check in with myself to see if I really want to do them. I'll accept my foibles; Baking cookies? I’ll see – maybe just one kind with the process broken into small steps over several days. I can do that. Let’s see, probably walnut crescents. They’re my favorite. I’ll let this all percolate and see what else comes up. But I won’t struggle with it. No, I think I can let it be easier this year.

I looked up from my reverie and I was alone. Talking to myself. Paying attention to my thoughts. Noticing ideas floating to the surface. With just a little shift this year could be different!

So, how about you dear reader? What are some ways you can take the crazy out of the next few weeks? How would you answer the Muses’ questions?

Leave a comment. Let us know what comes up for you!

**A tip of the keyboard to our head muse, Jill Badonsky, for her creation of The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) and Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching™ Visit her at The Muse is In.

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