Done!
27 December. Redlands, 09:00. Sunny & cold.
Note to reader, this is completely a soap box posting, full of opinion, self-help rhetoric, all with a “new-age spin” – Come on, you all knew it was bound to happen eventually -
DONE! Yes, Virgina, we are all done. The holidays of 2010 are now a thing of the past [yes, I know New Years Eve is this week, but unless you are throwing a party, there is not much to this holiday, to do that is].
If you are like me, you have been running since mid to late October. Since then, we have pulled out our summer gardens and shifted our focus inside. We have been busy getting the children through the final weeks of their first semester at school, prepared holiday meals, preserved the bounty of our gardens by canning, drying or freezing, shopped, brought and wrapped gifts, deep cleaned and decorated our homes and have even dug ourselves out of mud a time or two. All of this in just a few short weeks.
Is it any wonder we are a little tired, irritable, and feeling a bit out of sorts? [and if are not feeling this way, you are to be commended!] Here we are in Winter, where sunlight is at its lowest, the cold outside encourages us to stay in and warm [as does the rain] – a time to literally and figuratively go inside to rest and nurture ourselves and our loved ones. Instinctively, we all want to slow down and reflect – and now we can! All we really need to do is give ourselves permission.
Case in point, Christmas Eve. Corrina is standing in the kitchen asking what stores would be open later or on Christams Day, as she was making yet another batch of her delicious sugar cookies [from scratch]. She had just received her annual gift of holiday cash from her Great Aunt Charleen and was itching to do some more Christmas shopping. But the truth was, she was done with her shopping. All the gifts were wrapped.
Gently, I said to her, “honey, we are done. It is enough”. Boy, did my own ears need to hear that!
Knowing that we are done and getting our bodies to slow down this time of year can be two different things. For weeks now, we have been speeding up, not slowing down. And although it takes time to stop the moving freight train that has been our lives for these past few weeks, it does all start with one simple act – let yourself be done! Tell yourself, “Job well done! Time to rest”
On Christmas day, I allowed myself the luxury of soaking in a hot tub. Whenever I soak, I put this beautiful rock with pieces of raw lavender colored minerals in the tub [helps me to remember to "stay grounded"]. As I soaked, I consciously did deep breathing exercises, visualizing the fresh air clearing out each of the bodies energy centers [chakras]. Being that I have recently had surgery and combine that with the fact that I hold my breath, getting fresh air into my system is critical [while challenging]. As the water was draining from the bath, I visualized all of the stress, collected negativity, even the color black being washed out of my mind and body and down the drain.
Warm and a little more relaxed, I emerged from the soak with a mental note to let this new pace be my everyday rhythm. To help with this, I did throw out a good amount of the holiday sweets that have made their way into our home and set a deadline for what remains – trash day is this Wednesday. I removed the holiday cards that were cluttering my bookcase [and my view] and put away the holiday stockings that were making it hard to get into the table drawers from which they were suspended.
Later in the afternoon, I took a folding chair outside and sat all bundled up and with a large glass of water under the warm rays of the sun. [note about water intake - mine has been way too low lately. To help with this, I have been filing a pitcher of water each morning, adding some fresh limes or Meyer lemons to it and making sure that by the end of the day, it is gone - at least one of not more pitchers!] [Another note on water. For those familiar with Dr. Masaru Emoto work, apply the principal each time you drink - I reaffirm happiness, love, good, etc as I take in water]
Yesterday, I continued reclaiming sanity by getting my hands in the dirt – starting on the edible bed renovation I mentioned last week. So far, the wisteria & crape myrtle has been relocated to the opposite side of the property – a Provence lavender and lemon rose thyme have been planted into the edible bed and the plumeria and gardenia, two of the last remaining potted plants I have, were planted right under the living room window [pretty much where they have always been, now their roots are in the Earth].
Eating lighter is key for me as well – as much fresh vegetables and warm vegetable based meals as possible. The preserved meyer lemons accompany most meals – I can’t seem to get enough of the fresh zing, the bright taste, the enzymes and the vitamin C they pack in. Each evening, I am sitting down to a hot cup of tea, a warm blanket and a random book from the library. I am not asking myself to read a novel cover to cover, just spend time away from electronics with my hands on something as natural, concrete and real as the paper of book page.
We do not need to wait for New Years day to start feeling the peace and simplicity we all crave. Everyday, our life is made up of a series of choices, events – and thoughts. Why not get ourselves “cleared out” and “reset” prior to the routine standard of New Years day. Resolutions, not really. Just a thought, the same one we claim for each day – that we experience simple happiness, simple goodness.
