Holiday Frame of Mind

The holiday season is upon us. I'm making plans for Thanksgiving, preparing for advent, and thinking about gift-making for Christmas.

My top four tips for keeping these next months special are:

• Keep the main thing the main thing: Be clear on my holiday intentions and set priorities each week.
• Focus on savoring experiences like good meals, nature walks, and decorating together.
• Communicate early with everyone involved to confirm  schedules and priorities. 
• Don’t overspend on gifts; instead, make as many as possible and buy used books and toys.

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health, home, holiday, and prepare for Grandson fun.

 

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"

2. Renewal plan

3. Holiday mindset

4. Fall Cleaning and Home projects

5. Dinosaur School plans

1. Read "The Sweet Spot":

I'm reading this book by Christine Carter (2015), about "How to Find Your Groove". The thesis is that when we hit from our sweet spot we have optimum power and the greatest ease. Chapter 5 is Easing the Overwhelm, another take on positivity.

Overload is the familiar feeling that I can't possibly do everything I need to do, that time is running out, that I am exhausted. As a retired person with all the time in the world, I should never need to be in overwhelm, but when I begin to worry about the state of the world, or of my house, I can spin out of control. When I am in that state, I can be impulsive, irrational, anxious, and dumb. And it's not even a real place to be - I'm just following the social phenomenon of the culture of busy-ness.

So I simply need to defy the cultural norm (again). The first step is to decide on my five top priorities and say no to everything else. I am really good at this already!

My priorities are-

1. Love and serve my family and community.
2. Lead a simple life of integrity, in unity with the earth.
3. Be a creative force in the world.
4. Celebrate the seasons and the circle.
5. Renew myself: body, mind, heart, and soul. 

2. Renewal plan:

I try to renew all four dimensions of my life (body, mind, heart, and spirit), as Stephen Covey taught: I spend about an hour each day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration activities, plus work to improve my social skills and relationships. Once a month on the waning moon I take an opportunity to review how I'm doing, and make note of new ideas for the month ahead.

My plan:

• Body & Discipline: Chair yoga stretches every morning; take a daily walk. Plan and prepare healthy meals. Take care of basic hygiene, especially teeth!
• Mind & Vision: Finish some of the books I'm reading and choose a new book focusing on JOY; Continue to research and write about Nature-Culture; Create more teaching opportunities.
• Spirit & Ethics: Enjoy nature daily with photos, grubbing, and written gratitudes (to counter the mourning); Write Soul Notes reminders of how I am growing; Set some new integrity goals for shopping, speaking, and game playing.
• Heart and passion: Be sure to PLAY with my grandsons, and be creative! Do my Ongo exercises to help myself grow in equanimity.  

3. Holiday mindset:

In order to keep the main thing the main thing, my intentions and priorities for the week are:

1. Savor the experience of baking bun men for St. Martin, and shopping for The Turkey.
2. Communicate with everyone to confirm Thanksgiving food assignments. 
3. Make a list of gift-making ideas, and used books and toys.

4. Fall Cleaning and Home projects:

Fall cleaning has an entirely different feel and focus than spring cleaning. In the fall we finish up, pack away, and "batten the hatches"-- we put away all the outdoor stuff, air out the sweaters, and prepare for winter. 

This week I will continue fall cleaning in the bathroom. And we are trucking right along on our big renovation project. One week until our spa is delivered! 

My next steps:

• Clean the gutters. 
• Clear out the junk left in the yard, and find places for it.
• Design a shower, towel cupboard, bamboo planter, screen, and steps.
• Choose handrails and railings, and order them.
• Remove more thimbleberry and dirt from the hot tub site.
• Buy paint and paint the front of the house, and the bedroom windows.

5. Dinosaur School plans:

Our fall schedule includes a two day pre-school, with coloring pages on a different theme each week, related outdoor projects, field trips, and art. I want to focus on nature awareness, process art and basic art skills (drawing, painting, cutting, glueing, etc.).

This next 2 weeks the theme is dinosaurs:

1. Look at dinosaur books, cards, and mazes. 
2. Make pine-cone dinosaurs (painting, glueing)
3. Shop for a dinosaur terrarium and tiny plants.
4. Visit the Natural History Museum!

6. Buy a Turkey:
According to the Butterball Calculations site, we need a 13-15 lb. turkey, and we need 4 days to thaw it. I'm buying it this week, and getting it out of the freezer next Saturday. 

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