Mindfulness Practice

  Nothing magical happens at midnight, no matter how loud the countdown is going to be or how badly we want it to be true. You’ll go to bed on the 31st with the same thoughts you’ve had all week. You’ll wake up on the 1st with the same body, the same worries, the same unfinished things tugging at you from the edges. The calendar will change. You won’t. We all know this, of course. And yet every year we play along. We act like crossing from one day to the next is supposed to flip a switch. Like the mess will sort itself out. Like motivation will arrive fully formed, sober, and on time. It won’t. January comes with a lot of quiet pressure. No one needs to spell it out. It’s in the ads, the posts, the talk of fresh starts and new energy. There’s an expectation that you should want more. Be better. Fix something. Anything. Preferably everything. If you don’t feel that spark, it can already feel like you’re falling behind. The truth is most change doesn’t start with fireworks. It...

The real meaning of Christmas has been drowned out by noise. Too many lists. Too many expectations. Too much pressure to make it special, magical, memorable. Somewhere along the way, Christmas stopped being a day and turned into a test. Of generosity. Of happiness. Of how well you’re holding it together. By the time it arrives, a lot of us are already tired. We’re told Christmas is about joy, but joy doesn’t switch on just because the calendar says so. Not when the year has been heavy. Not when there are empty chairs at the table. Not when family is complicated, money is tight, or grief is sitting quietly in the corner waiting to be noticed. And still, we’re expected to smile. To be grateful. To play along. That version of Christmas has never worked for everyone. Strip it back and the original story is small and simple. At its heart, Christmas is a religious celebration. It’s about the birth of Jesus—God coming into the world as something vulnerable, fragile, and human. A quiet a...

December is supposed to be the soft landing at the end of the year. The deep breath. The reward. Everyone talks about slowing down like it is a gift you unwrap and instantly enjoy. For me, it is not like that. December is hard. Christmas is hard. The downtime is hard. And I have stopped pretending it is anything else. When the year is busy, I cope better. There is a rhythm. A reason to get up. Things to respond to. People who need answers. Even stress has a shape. You can push against it. You can survive it one day at a time. Then December arrives and everything loosens. Schedules disappear. Noise drops away. People go quiet. And suddenly there is space. Too much space. Downtime sounds peaceful if your inner world is calm. If it is not, downtime feels like being locked in a room with your own thoughts and no distraction allowed. That is when things creep in. Grief that stayed polite all year suddenly clears its throat. Loneliness that behaved itself now wants a seat at the tabl...