December 2020 is a funny place to be. Christmas, Hanukkah, and my birthday are this month, and our family is definitely more into the holidays than we typically are. This year, I think everyone's looking to embrace a reason for festivity. The lights, music, and seasonal events like getting a Christmas tree have brought a sense of joy and coziness to a season of being home a lot.
At the same time, the days are getting shorter and winter is sneaking in. Case counts everywhere are really high, and, given that, my parents and brother won't be able to come to Colorado after all. Between having a child now and being more separated from family with Covid restrictions, I'm definitely feeling the challenges of living far away from both sides of our family more this year. I'm trying to let there be space for this tension. There's a lot of joy to be found in our home and this season, but there's sadness too that this Christmas will be apart from family. And that's human.
Right now, I'm leaning on the words "comfort & joy" as my holiday season touchstone. By that I don't mean forcing joy, but rather looking for opportunities to find comfort and joy in what is right now. I'm wearing my cozy new wintry socks and writing this next to the deep purple advent candle representing faith and looking at our Christmas tree that we will get to decorate later this week.
Some goals for this month:
*Time track 1 week (I've been doing that this week, and will finish the week today)
*Complete the Holiday Hustle of walking or running 50k by January 1st
*Exercise every day, even if it's just a little bit
*Embrace creativity with online teaching this month (some ideas: mini-museum design project, six word stories for 2020, a read in choice board?)
*Write a blog post each Sunday of the month
What is your holiday season looking like this year?
i have look for joy as part of December intention too! :)
ReplyDeleteI like your goals list! I especially like the Holiday Hustle idea. I should do something like that with my kids. Now that they are back at virtual school, I feel like they have been inside ALL the time and barely moving. :( Plus, it's cold.
ReplyDeleteSo you guys celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas? How fun!! I'm always interested and curious about the mixing of faiths/ traditions/ cultures. We have some of that too since I was raised Lutheran and my husband Catholic, plus he is from Mexico and obviously had a pretty different cultural upbringing than I did. :)