A new year

Hello!

Here we are in 2022. How were your holidays? Ours were quiet. A decision was made to go slow this year. To not overbook ourselves, to stay cocooned. It was a decision born of both the news of the spread of Omicron and a need to simplify.

We scaled back on our holiday traditions, keeping only the ones that were most important to each of us. Which meant some disappeared (turns out my daughter and I no longer need the Advent Activities Calendar to happen EVERY day) which left room for us to expand the time spent on some of the things we loved.

Over the past two years, I've made an effort to send out holiday cards, along with a letter. (Yes! The infamous Christmas Letter-equally loved or hated.). I enjoy settling in, writing the letter, choosing the right holiday cards, handwriting addresses. But what we loved even more is that we got responses from people for weeks afterwards. We didn't just get holiday cards but also letters and long emails. It's so nice to connect that way.

Another tradition that has expanded a bit is our celebration of the Winter Solstice. After a brisk walk in the woods, a delicious, warm soup with homemade bread was served by candlelight. Then my daughter opened one gift from under the tree. It was a little preview of Christmas, without all the pomp and circumstance.

And finally, cookies were baked for the holiday. I spent two days making cookies. Which is usually a chore, but this Christmas I made the intention to fully enjoy the actual act of baking. The warmth of the kitchen, the smell of the cookies baking, the sounds of a hockey game being watched by husband floated into the kitchen from the family room.

I think, besides being mindful, the biggest difference was that I sat down for much of the work. I don't know what I always thought all aspects of cookie making needed to happen whilst standing, but I would exhaust myself every year. This year, I decided roll the Chocolate Crinkles into balls while I sat at our big, wood, farmhouse table. My feet thanked me for that.

Other than that, we read books (I loved A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw), watched movies and shows (Yellowjackets), napped, took some fun online courses (Winter Writing Sanctuary by Beth Kempton is fantastic and free), and ate. It was pure heaven. How was your holiday?

And now, it's the new year. I'll share my word of the year and let you know my intentions for 2022 soon, but it the meantime, I am taking it slow, this transition out of the lazy hazy days of the holidays, I hope you can too.

Comments

Aleta JacobsonJanuary 4, 2022 at 2:40 PM
Hi Laura,
I took a winter break and thought I'd fill it with stuff that I wanted to create or classes I bought but have not finished. Well, I just wrote a post about that. Nothing got done but a clean up of my studio space. I stayed up late watching movies with the family and sleeping in... way in. I did do some reflection on the month and the year. I will be cutting back on my teaching a lot.
I want to try your recipes. They look delicious.
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Anne ButeraJanuary 8, 2022 at 1:31 PM
Happy New Year, Laura! Love your photos, as always. That soup looks wonderful!

I'm glad you're finding joy in simplicity. I'm all about slow transitions. I think the new year shouldn't be in the middle of winter. It's when I want to hibernate. Haha!
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