Good morning to all of you! Our last full week to scurry about before Christmas. I do LOVE this time of year just before the holidays, seeing lights on homes, people excited in a way we don’t see all year. I used to live for the day we closed the office I worked with for Christmas, usually at lunch on Christmas Eve, and driving home was the best feeling in the world. Then blink, it’s December 26th.
I’ve been very open with you about the times I get so anxious and in my head, a scary place to be, and this morning, those of you like-minded people are on my heart. I can be one of the happiest people I know and I get like a kid at Christmas, I really can… but anxiety can be like a storm brewing off in the distance. The holidays can be hard and happy all at the same time. Can anyone relate?
As special as the holidays are, they can just be so “loud” if that makes any sense at all. Even the to-do list feels like it’s yelling. It can feel like standing in the middle of a busy street in NY where the horns are blowing, the traffic, the people, and crowds, are all surrounding us, and you can find an escape. And it feels the loudest when we want to be the quietest.
Anxiety, especially during the holidays, can feel as if everything is exaggerated and bigger than normal. The thought of going into the grocery store can feel heavy; leaving the house can feel heavier. Loneliness can feel all-consuming and that can be when you’re alone or in a room full of people. I love gift-giving but thinking about what hasn’t arrived yet or making sure all the kids get close to the same amount, which sounds ridiculous as I type it, can send me into a tailspin mentally. I DON’T WANT IT TO but it can be out of my control. Even – the – wrapping. I know the relief it brings me to see the wrapped gifts under the tree so you’d think I’d rush to get it done… thinking about the process is a lot. Maybe that’s normal stress but it adds to the stack of the others.
In some cases, I think these feelings can cause physical illness, as our nervous system is on edge, our mind not able to rest, our insides just tossing and turning… I mean what havoc that must wreak on our physical selves as much as our minds.
Then there’s 2022, just 18 days away, what does it hold? I can’t even get started on that or my mind will fly away into a whole other tangent.
Sadly, it can become a time of year that, as much as we love, some only feel relief when it’s over.
Mental health is not a laughing matter and for anyone who struggles with it, whether it’s a level 2 out of 10 or a 27 out of 10, it all matters, and we need to have empathy; we need empathy.
We need to stop judging people who seem to have it all but yet don’t seem happy all the time; their feelings are real and irrelevant to how much they have.
We need to not beat up those who don’t call or return a call or text or just disappear for a bit; their feelings are real and irrelevant to how much they care about us.
Today, my storm is off in the distance, probably and partially because my photography is done for the year, my shopping is done, most of the gifts are wrapped. I can still hear the rumblings of the storm way out there somewhere from time to time but for now, I’ll breathe in the calm every moment I can. I hope your storm stays off in the distance too but if it doesn’t, I am with you, I get it. Just know some of us get it.
xoxo,
jcg
Kathy
Yes…there are many of us out here that get it…standing silently in their storms. It’s a bit of solace to know someone recognizes what we hide.
Tracey Ebert
❤️
Dawn
Thank you so much! Wonderful reminder that we can go at our pace this season! Merry Christmas to you and yours! 🙌🎉🎄🎅🎁🙏💕
Tracey Ebert
❤️
Anna Workman
So happy for Cousin Bobby and Kum
Tracey Ebert
❤️