How to move from ‘getting through the holidays’ to savoring gratitude, miracles, and second chances. Every December, it feels like the whole world shifts into survival mode.We talk about “getting through” the holidays as if joy is something we have to navigate around. Stress becomes the default, even when everything around us is supposedly beautiful. And yes, we need tools for boundaries, stress, and emotional protection. That work matters. But that’s only one side of the coi

Feeling Overwhelmed This December? A Gentle Practice to Begin the Season The Month That Arrives Too Fast I read recently that there were once serious proposals to move us to a 13-month calendar  — a whole extra month, neat and tidy, all the same length. And I’ll be honest: standing here at the edge of December, part of me wishes they’d gone through with it. Because somehow every year, one minute I’m hanging skeletons, and the next I’m tripping over Christmas lights in the gar

I had coffee with a friend recently — she lost her brother this year — and as we sat there savoring a quiet moment before the holiday rush, she glanced around the café at the families and children and sighed. “I’m the last of my family sitting at the Thanksgiving table this year.” My heart ached for her… and, if I’m honest, for myself too.Because in her words, I felt the shrinking of my own family — the once-rowdy household of five daughters and two parents that has slowly gr