The Christmas tree fell over just before guests were to arrive. And I had no time. I was like Bridgette Jones. With much to do and negative time remaining. I watched the tree fall over. I was across the room. The sound of shattering glass was heartbreaking. I called my husband in tears. Could he come home to help? Of course he could.
The irony wasn't escaping me. I was less than an hour away from hosting a Holiday Vision Board Party. I wanted my house to be an oasis of holiday cheer. The eight foot tree was the centerpiece. And it was on the floor, surrounded by needles and broken ornaments. I thought, "There's some life-coachy lesson here. What is it? Don't strive for perfection? Go on no matter what? It's not that bad?" My mind was not on board. I was a bit freaked out.
My husband came home. After some cursing and a second toppling of the tree, followed by more cursing, we got it back up and secured. Miraculously, many of the glass ornaments and most of the most irreplaceable heirloom ornaments had survived both falls. And when we plugged it in, it lit up! Truly a Christmas miracle!
But there was no time. I vacuumed quickly. I gathered the dozens of fallen and unbroken ornaments into a pile. I tried not to worry that the kitchen looked like a combat zone.
The guests arrived. I fixed drinks. I changed the beginning of the party to a "re-decorate the tree" activity. Everyone loved it!
And then, mostly to calm myself--my adrenaline was still going a mile a minute-- I led all of us in a holiday visualization. We took deep breaths. (I tried.) We climbed back into our bodies. (Everyone else was probably in their bodies already, but I had been gone for hours, lol!) We remembered a favorite holiday memory. We used all of our senses to dive back into the memory. Several of us got teary with the emotion. It was wonderful.
Try it now. Remember the sounds, sights, smells, tastes, textures - really revel in your happy memory. Now, recall the emotion you have around this memory. We recalled feelings like excitement, joy, comfort, safety, belonging, and love. It was beautiful.
Then we got down to the fun part - creating a holiday vision board! Each one was unique. One vision board simply had one image of a guy and a dog on the back of a pickup truck, because this person really wanted simplicity and the feeling of being on an adventure on the open road. Others focused on family and togetherness, or on relaxing and coziness. We had great fun. I had time to put out the food. We ate, drank, enjoyed the holiday music, the company, and the miraculously still-beautiful tree.
Would you like to envision your own best holiday yet? Grab some magazines, a glue stick, a piece of posterboard or paper, and scissors. Then print out this one page Holiday Vision Board guide. And if you email me what you create (carla@livingwildandprecious.com), I'll share it in an upcoming post! Or share your happy memory and feelings in the comments.
And if you need more help with making the holidays truly your own and making them match your life right now rather than five, ten, twenty or thirty years ago, click here for more tips, including how to avoid "holiday porn"!
My wish for you is a beautiful, just right for you holiday season!