Mayday Mayday Merry Christmas

Jessie's World

Jessie’s World Episode 23 - Mayday Mayday Merry Christmas

Introduction

Merry Christmas and welcome to the 23rd episode of Jessie’s World – where we unite to work on becoming the very best version of ourselves. I am your host Jessica Lambert aka JessicaVibez with a z.

Today we deviate from our regular programing for this very real Christmas special dedicated to healing hearts and soul around the world.

The format is a little different, Follow me and DM me on Instagram @Jessicavibez let me know if this episode spoke to you and if we should do an annual Christmas special.

Let’s begin with some gentle breath work, followed by gratitude healing, and then by a discussion around what they don’t tell you about Christmas, and how you can help heal your Christmas jitters.

BREATH WORK

GRATITUDE – reflecting on the year, what are you grateful for, who are you grateful for, what was your best moment this holiday season so far, it could be waking up, it could be the meal you ate, it could be a phone call from a loved one, an unexpected card whatever you are grateful for large or small I want you to think of it, say it, focus on it. Focus on the feeling that gratitude gives you. Dwell in the glow of thankfulness, of abundance, of safety, security, happiness. Let your worries go, let your expectations go, let your fears go, and just stay focused on what you are grateful for and the joy it brings you.

DISCUSSION – MAYDAY MAYDAY MERRY CHRISTMAS

“The jingle bells are jingling, the streets are white with snow, the happy crowds are mingling, but ther’s no one that I know – I’m sure that you’ll forgive me, if I don’t enthuse, I guess I’ve got the Christmas blues” Dean Martin – let’s talk about it!

I released my Christmas Book in honor of my grandma this year titled Awesome Audrey’s Kooky Christmas – it’s a really fun tale about Santa crashing into the hood, and the kids giving him a hard time. As a result Santa bans Christmas for all hoods, but Awesome Audrey saves the day with Christmas Cheer and unconditional love. It is a reflection of the love I felt from my grandmother growing up, the fun and joy in my neighborhood, and the festive vibes that we had long ago. It’s a beautiful thought and I am so honored that my son Illustrator Tredel Lambert designed the cover art which is so beautiful and magical. This is my holiday happy place, and sharing it with others means so much to me. All the photos and videos people send me with the book light up my day, and seeing people on my website platinumrouge.com buying the book and reading the e-book to their children and grandchildren is so special to me. One person even wrote me that Awesome Audrey is the best Grandma and that really warmed my heart because that is exactly how I feel and why I wrote the book.

Like me, many adults enjoy reminiscing about childhood Christmases that brought them joy, but for some, it highlights a loss. For my family, we lost our matriarch when my grandma passed in 2015. I choose to focus on the light and joy of her spirit, and not the fact that in reality Christmas is not the same without her, then again, no day is quiet the same without her.

We are humans, complex with battle wounds and hurt hearts, joy and pain, sunshine and rain.

The truth is that may experience stress, sadness, loneliness, isolation, depression, anxiety, regret and more during the holidays.

This episode is for anyone struggling to get through the season – I invite you to listen as many times as you need, and just know I love you, and you will be okay, you will get through this. If you think this episode will help others please share. Follow Jessicavibez on Instagram to stay abreast all our projects and episodes.

Now here is the conundrum, you can be both festive and happy, anxious and depressed.

So what are the causes of the Christmas blues?

Let’s take a closer look…

The expectations of others, the general commercialism of the season, the pressure to show love with money and gifts can cause Financial Anxiety and Stress – if you are unable to practically meet the expectations of others or your own desire to shower those you love with gifts, this can become very stressful. I grew up in a winter wonderland, and it was very rare that I received less than 30 gifts at Christmas time as a child – that was a child’s dream, but my grandma was a shroud financial planner, she really did buy gifts on sale all year around. She was intelligent and methodical. Me… not so much. I took on her spirit of giving, but in the last minute, and not always on sale. That can cause financial stress – and a dichotomy of feelings; you love to give, but you don’t love to pay for it lol.

Honestly, a lot of people stress about how to ‘make a good Christmas’ for their loved ones.

With social media ads constantly targeting you to shop it’s even harder because that is where we go to connect with the people we love and then we are bombarded with ads day in and day out.

Breath easy – there are ways to deal with this.

Choose your top 1, 2, or 3 people and shower THEM with gifts only – it’s a lot more affordable then trying to give everything to everyone you meet, and if you come from a large family like I do it’s really hard to try and do something for everyone.

Another great tip is to try and use WHITE ELEPHANT GAME when doing large family get together, this way everyone leaves with a gift and there is no onerous expectations attached to the true blessing of simply spending time together.

I don’t personally like to set a dollar limit, because White Elephant with family or close fam is your way to give a gift your style, and because everyone has different giving capacities and philosophies it really should be left up to the person giving – after all isn’t that the point of a gift, to give from your heart and not a set dollar rate. This leaves it open, it could be home made, store bought, expensive, inexpensive but heart felt, it adds a spiciness, joy, and authenticity to the game, you start to see people’s personalities in what they contribute – it’s cute, it’s great bonding, great fun, and most of all it reduces financial stress for everyone J Try it and hit me up @JessicaVibez on Instagram let me know what you think.

Another great tip when it comes to the little ones in your life is to CREATE MEMORIES with them over just giving gifts. Something I saw a lot of this year is grand parents buying Awesome Audrey’s Kooky Christmas on e-book at platinumrouge.com and then reading with their grandchildren on zoom or facetime or Whatsapp or another video calling method. Sometimes they purchased 2 copies one to their child’s email and one to their own so their grandchildren could follow along. What a fantastic idea and a great way to spend time together over the holidays.

I know growing up going out and actually having fun in the snow was a great bonding opportunity too. Snow forts, snow men, snow angels. Also bring back caroling. Christmas movie night is one I always enjoy with my son. By stripping away these traditional holiday celebratory practices it’s like we are stripping the fiber off of food – it can become all processed and lack it’s intended substance.

The truth is, Christmas is about the birth of God’s son Jesus. It is about love, light and hope. It’s a spirit I tried to capture in my book Awesome Audrey’s Kooky Christmas too. It’s unconditional love. <...