Like what I did there?
Over the next few days I’ll be talking about white space and the holiday season. (And my fantastic friend Nina created the sweet little button for me on a moment’s notice.)
October, November, and December are my favorite months of the year. October is full of beginnings. A new season, crisp air, football season and chili on the stove.
November is my birthday month and my mom’s birthday month. There’s Thanksgiving and more football and a really sweet parade. And the welcoming of the Christmas holiday season.
And December. Well, December is usually a whirlwind. A rush of a month that is gone before we can blink and we wonder where in the world it went.
I do enjoy the rush of it. I’m a rusher. But this white space challenge came at the right time.
I don’t want to see December 26 come and realize that I wasn’t intentional. That we didn’t make the most of those sweet nights at home watching Home Alone and White Christmas by the fire. Or that we didn’t ever look at our advent calendar, and instead we just hopped from obligation to obligation and completely missed it.
So how do you do it? How do you have fun with Christmas, be a “yes” person in the best way possible, and not wear yourself completely out?
The purpose of creating white space is not to become a hermit. But it is to make sure that you are trusting God to be in control of your schedule and peace of mind… and not allowing someone or something to be in control of your schedule and peace of mind.
Over the next few days I’m going to explore that. Join me?
This is day 21 of 31 Days of Creating White Space
I’m looking forward to this mini series!!!! 🙂 Loving your whole 31 Days series!
Visiting from Fancy Ashley! I LOVE fall!! My favorite thing about fall would have to be candles. Don’t candles just seem better in the cooler weather? I recently bought a couple from Bath and Body works and cannot wait to light them!!
Xoxo,
Nicole
npbrowneyedgirl.blogspot.com
My first holiday season white space was a big ol’ decline on the holiday party invite. It was easy this year because they planned it for the middle of the week. Ugh! I also work remotely so the drive to the party would be long and we would get home around midnight. That is just not going to work for me this year with a 3 year old and a 3 month old. It’s usually just drinking and small talk anyways. Definitely not anything that uplifts me.
Really excited to read what you have to say about this. I totally feel ya on letting those three months just FLY by!
Visiting from Ashley and fall is my favorite because it brings feelings of comfort!
I can’t wait to read more about the white space Christmas.
Love this!
I will be about 36 weeks pregnant on Christmas, so we will definitely be scaling things back this year! I feel like I have a good reason to take it easy and spend lots of time reading Christmas books, watching movies, and decorating cookies and gingerbread houses with my son, who is 3. We will plan around our church’s Christmas services first, and if something doesn’t fit in, we’re going to leave it out. Can’t wait to hear what else you have to say about this!
Have you ever tried any parts of the FlyLady system (FlyLady.net)? She has an annual series that she just started this week called Cruising through the holidays. It is designed to do the same thing- help you plan ahead and be intentional so you can really relax and enjoy the holidays. She gives practical tools, and 1-2 5-minute projects/day to help things go smoother and less stressed.
Looking forward to reading this! I think this time of year always quickly passes by, there is so much to see and do it just becomes overwhelming. I’m planning on doing some Christmas activities such as going to see a Christmas display at the Botanical Gardens and going to see the Nutcracker after Christmas day. I love that it helps to spread out those most see Christmas activities so we don’t feel so rushed to see everything before December 25th.
Also, love Fly Lady as well. It’s very easy to follow!
Erin, I love everything about this post. Last year, the Christmas season seemed to just fly by. I know that it will go quickly again this year, but I really want to be more intentional about celebrating it. I want to make sure that my family and I get to enjoy our time together and take all opportunities to celebrate the birth of our Lord all month long!:) Can’t wait to read what else you have to share.
Loving this series – each one has spoken directly to my heart!
This is something I have to make intentional each and every year because it does not come naturally to me. Part of the problem for me is shopping. I’m a gift person and I will go overboard if I don’t watch it. Freeing up that time in exchange for memory making family time is essential!
Erin, I love this series. Last year I did almost everything I could in either October or at least November so December was left with the “want to” things of the season. It’s October 21st and our guest bedroom is filled with Christmas gifts that are wrapped. Also, I make my gifts to my parents “events” – I am taking my mom to Women of Faith Christmas, which is held at our church. It doubles as something I want to do plus I get to share it with someone I love dearly and she gets to meet my friends. For 11 years I have gone to a best friend’s annual cookie exchange in early December — she asks us to bring 12 dozen cookies! I told her this year I will come but I will only bring 6 dozen — still too many for my needs but half the time commitment. For any holiday apparel I need for company or church activities, that is also taken care of in October or early November. Anything I can do ahead of time, I do. It left last year’s December such a nice time of enjoyment. Good luck!
Cannot wait! The holidays are always so completely hectic. I want this year to be different.
This post is so near-and-dear to my heart! I was writing out our Christmas gift list just today. Every year I tell everyone that we had a nice Christmas enjoying our friends and family but that is far from the truth. I get so anxious and overwhelmed, all I want to do is cry and watch Christmas Vacation 😉 We are always pulled here and there with different obligations…it goes by so fast. I am forcing our family to say no to things that WE don’t want to do to spend quality time together.
I have had similar thoughts about this weighing on me for the last week…today I actually wrote out a list of “goals for Christmas”. I feel much better. I’ll be praying about them and talking with the hubs about them and sharing them this week.
Love this! I’m also hoping for a less hectic holiday season, as well as finding a way to have more meaningful gifts. I’m tired of buying something just because it’s Christmas. I want to find a way to show my family and friends how much they mean to me but not necessarily with a gift. I always try to be thoughtful with my gift giving but as the list grows, so does my frustration at finding the “perfect” thing. There are even times we buy something just to cross someone off our list (I’m not proud of that). How do you (or your readers) make Christmas about more than just the (what is beginning to feel like) obligatory gift buying? I
Your words and honest thoughts continue to inspire me to create more white space in my life and most importantly, be more intentional. I’m so blessed to have you, my dearest friend! Love you!