Keep Calm and Carry On

I don’t know about you, but I could use more calm in my life.

I’m looking for deep calm, not just the “don’t panic, but keep pushing” attitude that is espoused by the phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On,” which was a campaign developed in the UK during World War II that was fortunately never deployed. (It was in the event of Nazi occupation, so the posters never went up.)

This year, we are dealing with the ongoing COVID pandemic, but even moreso with 18 months of supply chain disruptions that are threatening to create temporary shortages of lots of things we might want to purchase as holiday gifts (from toys to clothing to books to electronics and more).

The holidays are coming.

In a good year, they can be stressful.

In a stressful year . . . Well, they can be completely overwhelming.

Instead of being the “bright spot” that so many of them are designed to be, the holidays require a lot of energy. That is particularly true if you identify as female, since somehow the bulk of the planning, shopping, cleaning, cooking, decorating, gift-giving, and emotional caretaking falls on you.

When it comes to holidays such as Halloween, Diwali, Chanukah, Advent and Christmas, or Kwanzaa, we light candles or oil lamps to push back the darkness of winter and illuminate things. In all cases, including Thanksgiving and New Year’s, it is also traditional to gather with families, friend, and community in order to honor our relationships and cultures, and to celebrate.

This year, some of the holidays are coming early. The five days of Diwali begin on November 2nd, with the main celebration on November 4th. The first night of Chanukah is November 28th.

Before those holidays even arrive, what has been plainly illuminated for many of us is that we are already maxed out. Dealing with our usual obligations—work, home, family, school and more—has all been made more difficult and more stressful in the time of COVID.

Many of us are still working from home; some of us are working from home with partners or children who are doing the same thing, or having to monitor their kids’ remote learning experiences. Due to pandemic-related supply chain issues, there are growing shortages of many consumer goods, including a lot of the items we might want to purchase for holiday gifts.

Even if things are “back to normal” where you live, it is likely that you are still experiencing COVID-related stress, whether from losses, long COVID, or ongoing anxiety.

Holiday stress on top of everyday anxiety is too much to handle.

When we think about past holiday seasons, where many of us in the United States celebrate more than one of the holidays I’ve included in this post, we know that the holidays create stress for many of us. The pressure of cooking, cleaning, shopping, gift-giving, entertaining, and trying to please the people in our lives is a lot.

We know that it’s a stressful time of year for many people, and that issues like anxiety and depression often spike in the last two months of the calendar year. Nevertheless, we tend to repeatedly throw ourselves and all the energy we have into creating some idealized fantasy holiday.

Back when you first started “doing” the holidays for yourself, you probably started out relatively modestly. Maybe it was a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween, a single menorah or Kinara, a small statue of Lakshmi and a few lamps for Diwali, a simple Christmas tree, just a turkey and a couple sides for Thanksgiving, a bottle of bubbly for New Year’s Eve. The next year, we added more. Then more. And still more.

Over the years, we amass a huge quantity of holiday “stuff.” Not just decorations or ritual objects, but recipes and courses. Routines and traditions. Travel obligations and social obligations and gift-giving obligations.

What if you could create a less stressful, less chaotic holiday season?

What if—this year—you could simplify your celebrations and create a calmer, more mindful experience?

All is Calm is a four-week group course that helps you to achieve a simpler, less-stressed holiday. It is priced at $97, and it is designed to offer you guidance, support, and community as you right-size your holidays for yourself, and find the sense of calm and satisfaction in the season.

There will be two sessions of this program offered in 2021. The first begins on Sunday, October 24th; the second on November 21st. I’d love for you to join me inside this program.

What ALL IS CALM includes:

Each week, you will receive an email with resources for you to use, including planning tools, journaling prompts, moments of mindfulness, and more.

We will have a 45-minute Zoom call each Monday at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the weekly goal, whether it is reviewing past holidays and your “usual” routine, envisioning a new holiday, planning a way to accomplish it, or seeing that plan through and reviewing so you are ready for next year. (I’m keeping the Zoom calls brief on purpose because so many of you are already zoomed out.)

There’s also a Facebook group inside which I will post daily mindfulness prompts to sustain you through the course. A place where you can share any thoughts, frustrations, dreams, or goals. A place to find sisterhood and support as you navigate this year’s holiday season.

For more info on this opportunity, I invite you to check out the sales page here. Or you can use this link to sign up today.