Gift Giving?

If you are of the masses of people in the throes of some version of a gift giving holiday- the pressures can be immense. As a parent, a widow, an ex-church girl, married to another ex-church girl, Christmas eve and morning have layers and layers of demand, grief, resistance, labour and in short, so much complication.

That on top of the typical AuDHD executive function challenges that come from breaking out of routine, seasonal foods outside of the norms, social occasions rife with expectations and performed “holiday cheer”. I know that I am not alone in finding this time of year hard.

In service of the ways that this is a brutal hard time, I am inclined to invite you to make sure you are finding ways to give yourself a gift or two.

Some ideas:

• horizontal time. whether its a few minutes or a full day.
  • this could be a screen assisted regulation break or
  • a silent staring at the ceiling
  • listening to music or a podcast
    • i’ve recently cancelled spotify and am exploring alternate apps including:
      • tidal (for music)
      • antennapod (for podcasts)
      • libby
  • can be done alone or with someone else
  • especially valuable to those with hypermobile bodies, folks with chronic pain, and burnt out former overachievers
• a little out trip
  • consider somewhere green
  • or with a body of water
  • alone or with a friend
  • take
    • transit
    • mobility aids
    • a ride
    • a snack
    • weather appropriate clothes
  • while you are out, look for:
    • birds (I’ve started using the merlin app to help with this- fascinating)
    • plants you know
    • plants you don’t know
    • moss
    • lichen
    • fungi
    • creatures smaller than your hand
    • the way the light varies through:
      • leaves,
      • branches,
      • over moving water
  • if actually going outside is beyond possible, try modifications like opening a window and putting on a trail cam feed from a scenic location
• permission to say no
  • I have generalized a prescription I made for a client so you can write your own name in.

• a series of sessions to work with me 1 on 1
• access to the self guided course GET FREE
• a digital download of a 70 page e-book I made last year called “Keeping Your Senses“, which is a guidebook full of tools and strategies for living in a mortal human body in late stage capitalism

I sure hope you take whatever tiny opportunities you can to find bliss, rest, connection, celebration and affirmation today and in the coming days. Be gentle to yourself whenever possible, letting that soft animal in you be griefy and scared, tired and overwhelmed. Take care loves.