I have had a lovely week of winding down for the Christmas season. I have time off from work December 22 to January 1. I spend Thursday in a reflective mood preparing for the longest night of the year! I did a few winter Solstice meditations I found on YouTube that focused on what I want to embark on in the New Year. The time of shining a light on my New Year intentions. In ancient times, the return of the sun meant a time of rebirth and renewal. I read the poem “The Shortest Day” and I sat in candlelight as I read my advent Calendar/Solstice Spiral aloud on what things I wanted to shine a light on in 2024. It was the darkest of nights as the sun was hidden by the clouds all day. I lit all of my candles at 5 pm, including the 3 wick candle I had been saving for a decade and I hung the paper star I bought at the Kristkindl Market in Chicago. It was the perfect kick off to my time off from work, making my holiday bubble away from the world and the “in between” week.
And here is my little video:
How am I going to spend this week of In-between? The week off but in between the holidays and returning to the reality of work and life. A week suspended in holiday revelry and totally away from the responsiblities of being an adult. I have no plans to go anywhere. I am going to sit in my little holiday bubble. Maybe watch a few Christmas movies I have not had time to watch. I plan to podcast, properly clean my house. Have a coffee with a friend at the new coffee shop next to the quilt shop! Couldn’t be a more perfect set up for me! I am going to wait and see how each day unfolds.
I also plan to be a whole week of self-care. Recharge, rest and relax. Do the last 2 physical therapy sessions planned. Sew, knit, cross stitch and start exercising in my home gym. Get in nature, take pictures and watch as the sun returns to give us more daylight. There will be loads of football bowl games and possibly a nap or two. I already did my nails with the new gel polish set I got from my Mom for Christmas. Thanks, Mom!
I am going to do Karen Brown’s Sewing room declutter challenge that starts on Jan 1. A perfect way to start the New Year and a reality check. I am sewing the Petite Four Quilt along with FQS and I need to catch up.
I want to share my journal page of the count down to Christmas and what I want to shine a light on. The small words in between the circles, which are supposed to represent rocks, are the things I want to banish from my life which is the opposite of the light that I want to shine in my life.
I am fortunate to have a lot of time off during the holidays and taking 3 additional days for the long block of time is so lovely. I plan to take advantage of this holiday gift to myself and prepare for a great finish to 2023 and ring in 2024.
Vicki
My Creative Corner3 
I love your spiral chart! It’s so easy to visually focus on the positives. Even if we tend to have the same goals year to year, i notice the choice of priorities change a bit. Like the decluttering and self-care. Two biggies as we age! I’m looking forward to the sewing room challenge as well and plan to move things around and really zero in on my set up and storage this time. Since I have moved, I notice those are the 2 things really holding me back from working on quilts and other projects. I really love this time of reflection and assessment and plan to do plenty in my in-between week too.
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Thanks for commenting!! I am ready to start getting somethings cleaned up and organized. I agree with you that the older I get the more I need to take care of myself!!
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