Self Care for Makers During the Busy Holiday Season

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I hope you won’t hate me when I tell you this…I don’t really like Christmas. The season feels like a pine scented F-5 tornado spewing candy canes and blinking lights all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas decor, holiday food, and candlelight church services. Did I mention cookies? I really really love Christmas cookies! What I don’t like are the expectations, the pressures, and the additional obligations that have become synonymous with this time of the year.

This is my first holiday season as a maker and I am finding myself more stressed than in previous years, which I didn’t think was humanly possible.  I haven’t met the goals I made for myself (which I wrote about here  Trying not to be a Discouraged Maker this Holiday Season.) But recently the term “self care” has been coming at me from multiple directions and I’ve decided I better listen. In the past I thought that making myself a priority was selfish or something that should be addressed when everything else was done. I can hear Dr. Phil in the background yelling in his Texas drawl,

“How’s that working for ya?”

And to be perfectly honest, it isn’t working for me. The time to include some self care into my routine is vital, not only to my happiness, but to my productivity as well. I have a feeling you are the same way! Once this revelation really sunk in I began thinking about what fills me up, what energizes me and I created a list. Your’s may be completely different but my hope is that by sharing mine you might be inspired to think of ways you can care for yourself in a more mindful and purposeful way! And maybe, just maybe, it will help make this a more meaningful holiday season.

1. Getting outside – I find that getting some fresh air by either working in my yard or walking around my neighborhood helps clear my mind. Connecting with the outdoors for even just a half an hour does me a great deal of good.
2. Cleaning my house – I have found that the dirtier my house is the worse I feel mentally. Even just spending a short time decluttering helps relieve my stressful thoughts.
3. Staying off social media – Fasting from Facebook and Instagram for short periods of time really improves my outlook! I love social media and I have made so many wonderful connections but there are times that I need a little break.
4. Spending time with family – playing board games or watching a movie all together gives me such a feeling of togetherness that helps me connect and remember what is really important to me.
5. Work on a project that isn’t for the Etsy shop – knitting or embroidering something that is just for my enjoyment gives me a spark of creative energy.
6. Yoga – I practiced yoga every single day in the year 2017 and it helped me get through a very difficult time (which you can read about here: Why I started crocheting and you should too!) I absolutely adore Yoga with Adriene and find that spending some time on the mat brings calmness into my mind and body.
7. Reading a good book – There are very few things in life as enjoyable as a great book. I am currently reading a biography of Julia Child and listening to the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Gailbraith (aka J.K. Rowling).
8. Lighting a candle – it is surprising how such a small thing can bring me a little brightness and light, literally and figuratively.
9. Watching mindless TV – sometimes the very best thing for my mood is a little mindless fluff! Letting my brain turn off for an hour or so recharges my batteries and laughter truly is good medicine.