Day 345/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
Crunch time and I have to decide on who get's what this Christmas.
With being on a study budget for the last 4 years, gift giving once again stretches my imagination as well as my budget. So here's my plan.
It would have been great to consider this a few months ago, but now's the time to decide how I can delight my friends and family with a truly considered and especially prepared gift, usually home-made, purchase second-hand and up-cycled or grown to order. Inspiration is planned to be gleaned from their lifestyle, their interests and their wants and needs. Well actually, from their Facebook timelines and their insta accounts.
One family member has just moved into a new apartment and is tidying up their outdoor area so that they can entertain guests. I've hunted down a beautiful big terracotta pot on FB marketplace, separated one of my plants, a perfect low maintenance succulent that suits his lifestyle, potted it, and have been nurturing it for a few weeks in truth, until it's established in readiness for giving. That one I did consider early, but only by chance!
A cousin is wanting a worm farm cafe to support her veggie garden but is unable to stretch her resources at this stage. I've recently asked around and a neighbour found an "as new" one in their garage that they willingly passed on. For very little I'll clean it and set it up in readiness for her visit. I've turned the compost, taken out the twigs, added favourite food for worms. It'll be the perfect worm bedding to package up and gift her with a bag full of worms from my own worm farm cafe. Yes, we're both earth mothers so garden stuff always delights us. Who else would delight in a bag of worms for Christmas!
As I'm spending Christmas with one of my family and her's, I've planned a number of Christmas treats to bake that are new and novel, to surprise and delight them as well. OR should I really be making tried and true treats instead of practicing new recipes at this time?
For very little, the gifts I am planning feel authentic and real and perfect for each person that I will be sharing Christmas with.
If you can find ways to pull yourself away from the gloss of Christmas marketing that is mayhem to your bank balance and use your imagination and creativity to give from the heart you won't regret the experience. You might feel like I feel. A lot more fulfilled in your giving, and so much happier after Christmas when you're not having to worry about an overdrawn credit card.
Merry Christmas gift-giving!
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.