A Chronic Christmas Carol: Healing You, Healing Me
Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness is now available in paperback on all the Amazons. Did you know I have a new book out? Could be hard to miss, what with me barely mentioning it. Okay, so I haven’t shut up about it, but it’s still theoretically possible that you might have…
Book Launch: Chronic Christmas
New book just released! I’ve been hinting at this for a while and it’s finally here. Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness is now available on Amazon. This is an Advent calendar full of self-care tips to help people with chronic illness savor the holiday season as never before. Chronic Christmas has…
#ChronicChristmas Day 25: Enjoy
It’s here. By the time you read this, you’ve probably done the big rip (especially if you have kids) (or you still retain the childlike wonder about pressies). I’m all about the latter. Maybe even the childlike wonder about the magic of this particular holiday. It’s what gets you through a busy, emotional day. Connecting…
#ChronicChristmas Day 24: Julehygge or Welcoming the Spirit of Christmas
Today, my family is celebrating Juleaften. Celebrating what….? Juleaften. Or Christmas Eve in Danish. Where I come from, the grand celebration happens tonight with a special dinner — a.k.a. the Best Meal of the Year — and exchanging presents. And it means that today is about disconnecting and decompressing and let the julehygge take over….
#ChronicChristmas Day 23: Sing
When is the last time you sang? I mean, really belted one out, disappearing into the music and the feeling, and not caring about the dogs howling in the neighbourhood, and the cracks appearing in your glasses? OK, so maybe that last part doesn’t happen to everyone. Did I ever mention that my sister has…
#ChronicChristmas Day 22: Good Enough
There are only a few days left to finish it all — how much is left on your list? Unless you are one of those incredibly organized people who have every bow tied, and every piece of tinsel polished before Labor Day, chances are you are near hysterics by now. So I’m going to suggest…
#ChronicChristmas Day 21: Embrace the Small Moments
What do you remember from past Christmases — the times everything went according to plan, or the moments when imperfection snuck into the celebrations? We work so hard to make the holidays perfect, but that’s not what makes for enduring family legends. One of my favourite memories was the year when the tree slowly, but…
#ChronicChristmas Day 20: Ask for Help
Me do it. I’m not a toddler, but you will quite frequently hear me say similar words. Perhaps a bit more eloquent, as my language skills have improved somewhat since I was two. But really. It boils down to the same thing. I bet you’ve been stuck in the same place more than once, but…
#ChronicChristmas Day 19: Be Kind to Someone
Christmas doesn’t just come from a store. Yes, we’re back to those immortal words by the green guy in my favourite Christmas special. Because contrary to everything in every commercial starting earlier and earlier in November every year, this season isn’t actually about consumerism. It isn’t even about buying presents for each other (or yourself)….
#ChronicChristmas Day 18: Buy Yourself a Present
You have a list, and you’ve checked it not twice, but a dozen times or more. It’s colour-coded, carefully organized to keep track of which gifts you bought for whom, who you’re still working on, where the gifts are on the various stages between stuck in the closet somewhere in a pile of bags to…
ChronicChristmas Day 17: Feed the Animals
The current mild temperatures in Toronto notwithstanding, we have entered a time of year where it’s hard for wildlife to find food. I remember reading an article last year about how many waterfowl had starved to death because of the thick layer of ice on Lake Ontario that lasted for months and months. Watching birds…
#ChronicChristmas Day 16: Prepare for Stressful People
We all have them. This family member or acquaintance who tests our ability to stay calm and enjoy the holidays. Likely said person only have our best interests in mind. Of course, it’s also possible that they are profoundly self-absorbed. Motivation doesn’t really count, what matters is that we end up pinned in a corner,…