It’s the Holiday Season….
Memories of yesteryear dance through the mind as vintage tunes play softly in the background, the same songs our grandparents once hummed while they whipped up their most loved recipes. The melodies cast their quiet spells over any heart willing to receive them, stirring up a longing for warm lights reflecting off untouched snow, for the ritual of trimming trees, and for the search for gifts that somehow speak the words we often fail to say aloud.
And yet, beneath all this, the season holds its own kind of chaos. The noise, the crowds, the deadlines, the emotional whiplash of trying to be everywhere at once. Weeks of preparation and penny pinching, all for a collection of fleeting moments wrapped as carefully as the presents beneath the tree, only to pass in a matter of hours.
We tell ourselves it’s worth it.
The most wonderful time of the year.
The happiest season of all.
Because that’s what we hope for. Year after year we hope to feel that spark of childlike wonder return. But the reality isn’t always so cozy for many of us. While we smile and push forward, the holiday season often brings with it more than joyful gatherings and good food. Those warm lights we long for also cast shadows, and some are not as welcome as others.
If that sounds familiar… this article is for you.
The Truth Behind the Frosty Panes of the Season…
Holidays offer up an ideal imagery within a garland-trimmed frame: carolers on a quiet, snow-dusted night; a home glowing with warm Christmas lights, and tables crowded with dishes everyone has waited all year to taste; inviting smiles and kind gestures. Tiny snapshots of what the season should look like. But the pictures never reveal what exists outside that single still moment. For many, the beauty these images portray can land with an unexpected ache.
To some, the sound of carolers spreading their cheer may become an echo of loss. Their melodies dance through the air carrying faint whispers of voices now silent. Holiday lyrics paint pictures of meals that once soothed the worst days, and the warmth of hugs that may never be felt again. All the reminders of days long passed leave room for grief to slip into the season.
For others, the holidays become a reminder - not of what was lost - but of what was never known. Some childhoods go without magic or safety. Traditional family gatherings may have brought tension instead of belonging. Far too many experience standing in a room full of relatives only to feel invisible or unwanted. Yet, growing up wrapped in the picture-perfect version of the season doesn’t always mean carrying that into adulthood either.
The responsibility of creating that magical experience for others can, and often does, become its own kind of overwhelm. There is a heightened pressure to care for everyone else even when your own needs fall further to the bottom of the list than normal. Then there’s guilt for feeling burnt out because we tell ourselves, “others have it worse,” and that we should feel grateful. Top that off with a forced smile and the automatic “I’m fine”... the quiet unraveling beneath it all.
Trying to ignore the very real shadows this season casts is a natural response to uncomfortable memories and feelings. We learn to push past them and focus only on what’s expected. But in doing so, we often distance ourselves further from whatever wonder might still be waiting to be found or remembered.
If any of these truths speak to what you’ve been holding in…the parts you keep tucked away to avoid feeling like a burden…I want you to hear this: You are held in far more compassion than you realize, and you are deserving of a gentler way through it all.
You don’t have to carry this season alone, and you don’t have to carry it all at once. There is space here for you. Take a moment to breathe and allow yourself grace this season. And remember: Calm doesn't wait for the noise to pass. It is already there, ready to walk with you through it.
All is Calm, All is Bright…
It may be hard to notice. Almost impossible, even. Yet within the loud crowds, holiday music, and crammed calendars are tiny moments of calm reserved just for you, if you allow yourself the chance to pause and take it in.
Recognizing when your body and mind are asking for rest is often the first quiet step toward finding where calm lives. It begins with noticing when thoughts grow too loud, muscles ache a little longer than usual, or your spirit feels stretched thin. This awareness isn't a weakness. It’s the beginning of gentleness, and one of the greatest acts of self-care.
When you notice the need for a pause, calm often begins to reveal where it has been waiting. Sometimes it shows up in a few deep, intentional breaths, giving you a few moments to create just enough space for tension to loosen and anxious thoughts to soften. Other times, it lingers in the freedom of releasing traditions that no longer fit, or in reclaiming your time by loosening the grip of schedules that stretch you too thin.
At other times, calm emerges unexpectedly in the ordinary moments we tend to overlook. It can be the warmth of a cup of coffee or cocoa resting in your hands, or the moment you breathe in the steam that carries a familiar and comforting scent. It can live in the quiet before the house stirs awake, and at the end of a long day, once everyone has settled in for the evening. Sometimes, calm can even arrive in a familiar song you once loved but haven’t truly listened to in a while.
These small details tend to fade into the background of a busy season. Yet when you allow yourself to notice them again, they can be gateways back to yourself.
There is no single path to finding calm. What steadies one person may feel distant to another. Calm is personal, shaped by your needs, your history, and your capacity in the moment. It does not ask you to be joyful or grateful or composed. It only asks that you listen to yourself. Once found, even briefly, calm becomes something you can carry with you. Not as armor, but as an anchor. A reminder that you can move through this season without abandoning yourself along the way.
So as the season continues, may you notice where calm is already reaching for you. May you recognize it when it appears. And when you do, may you carry it forward with care, letting it guide you gently through whatever comes next.
~!~THANK YOU FOR READING~!~
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