The obvious element of cultivating a sense of gratitude is not taking the good stuff in life for granted. Of course, we are thankful for the house we live in even if it’s not in the school district we wanted. We are thankful for our kids growing into responsible, successful adults. Thankful for our health, the food on our table, warm coats and good friends. Gratitude comes into the equation when you are still grateful for your house even if it is where your spouse died. Even if it burns down. Thankfulness is easy, gratitude takes practice.

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With all the shopping, baking, and visiting, the holidays can seem like they’re over before they even began. In the liminal period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when time has time to catch up with me, it always feels like Thanksgiving was last week. So it’s nice at this point in the year before the timeline ramps up to be mindful and create a little headspace for the giving spirit rather than the get through it spirit. Mindfulness rarely looks like a blissful looking person in seated meditation in a sun-filled room on a cozy pillow. Mindfulness in real-life boils down to finding stillness and connection in the midst of hurry and chaos, a helpful tidbit for what is to come next month.

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Wow, it’s November already…?! I’ve been so pleased by this beautiful, balmy autumn. Then I woke up on November 1^st to snow on my car and a radiator-heated apartment that also did not know it is almost winter and I could almost feel my teeth clench and the to-do list start to knit together in the back of my mind: start baking list, make baking shopping list, wrapping paper inventory, holiday dinners schedule… The holidays are upon us ladies and gents, and while I absolutely love Christmas with an obnoxious childhood glee, it also carries with it the longest to-do list and succession of late nights I see the whole year.

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