Joy and Wonder
Joy & Wonder | www.nurtured mama.net
Today I have two new projects to tell you about...
Joy
I deeply believe that joy is not a destination but a practice. Happiness is not something you earn, arrive at, or own, but something you notice, sit with, and practice at.I also believe that in the chaos of motherhood (especially early motherhood) happiness can feel very elusive.
We are tired. We are frustrated. We feel alone and overwhelmed.We need reminders to nurture our joy and happiness. And we need them often. But we each deserve to feel joy. As often as possible.
This is why I created the free 6-day Holiday Nurturing email class. In it you will find ways that you can set your intentions around the holiday season so that you experience more joy and connection, less stress and overwhelm.
Wonder
My friend Sharon Harding of Rediscovered Families contacted me recently about my perspective on nurturing wonder in the Christmas season. I was happy to tell her my thoughts in an interview that she published today: Reclaiming the Wonder of Christmas.
I have been thinking so much lately about how to re-infuse the holidays with joy and wonder, as I've been preparing the materials for my holiday eclass. The more I write about this topic, there more I find I have to say.
In this interview, Sharon asked me about my memories of Christmas as a child, and I realized that while I hold a lot of sad memories in one hand, in the other I hold just as many filled with wonder and sweetness. In the interview I shared this bittersweet memory:
My favorite holiday memory is the Christmas just after my parents separated. As a result of that split my brother and I moved down off of our rural piece of property and into a condo in town with our mom. My mom didn’t have the money that year to buy a Christmas tree for our house, but she got permission from my dad to go back up to our land and cut a Manzanita tree that she set up in the living room of the new house that still felt uncomfortable and not really ours. Mom jerry-rigged the tree stand and we got out the box of ornaments she’d been collecting all of our lives – hand made and collected on trips and passed down from her parents – and hung them up on the funny-shaped but beautiful tree.That tree fell over almost every night but each morning we’d pick it up, put the ornaments back on it and breathe in the scent of Manzanita and home.
You can read the rest of the interview here, which includes more about my history with Christmas, how I approach Christmas celebrations now that I have my own child, and my inspiration for the course.