I got to stay home today. It wasn’t a day off by any stretch, because I was grading papers, filing insurance and all that stuff, but it was a day when I didn’t have to think about traffic, driving, or the outside world and that bustle.
After our few days without power and then scrambling to play catchup, the relative quiet was so wonderful. There’s something about winter that feels like stillness. The trees are quieter and there’s more of a sense of calm.
I need to take “days off at home” more often! I’m not sure why this one was more peaceful than most, but I’ll happily take it.
The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, over stressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! It’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.
I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.
Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!
Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)
Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE
Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!
Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you 
don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.
Prize: um, ironing out details–a box of fun things from me.
As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season
Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family
Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.
The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy. Make it specific! Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”. Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”. You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!
I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:
- Kickoff: Gluten Free Goodness (moi)
- Dec 7th Kate of Eat, Recycle, Repeat
- Dec 14th Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl
- Dec 21st Valerie of City Life Eats
- Roundup: Gluten Free Goodness (moi)
I hope you choose to join us, too. Grab a badge and we’re good to go!
We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.
Posts so far:
- Valerie’s Kickoff post
- Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl’s Seeking Joy
- Eat Recycle Repeat’s Joy to the World
My 30 days of gratitude:
- Day 1: Gratitude
- Day 2: Grateful for Genghis Khat
- Day 3: Grateful for amazing people
- Day 4: The roundabout road to gratitude
- Day 5: Grateful for beautiful weather
- Day 6: Grateful for New Experiences
- Day 7: Grateful for Local Apples
- Day 8: Grateful for Acts of Kindness
- Day 9 and 10: Grateful for Everyday Miracles
Stumble It!
I think we all could use more peaceful days, especially during hectic seasons. Thanks for writing these posts every day!