Embrace Untethered Joy
Hi. Hello. How are you?
I want to Invite you into something BOLD for the rest of the year.
Step into Untethered JOY.
Is it possible for you to embody or cultivate Untethered Joy? Or, if that sentiment feels too far away right now, might I invite you to be willing to see and feel what Untethered Joy would look like for you?
In several recent conversations, I’m hearing my clients, friends, and community talk about the burdens and chores of the holidays. The overwhelming and endless list of to-dos, the dwindling brick and mortar stores that make shopping so bland, the traffic, the lack of excitement in giving gifts, and a “just get through this” kind of mentality. I know this feeling well and have cycled through it so. many. times!
I’ve also learned that that type of energy, the DOING energy, just sucks the joy from life and from the special moments available in day to day living and at unique events like a birthday, a holiday, hosting friends and family, or preparing for a trip.
Life is an opportunity to be present, and in love and gratitude with what IS, but if we are only focused on the to-do list, we miss it!
We can’t control the time of the year or all that we have going on, but we do have 100% dominion over the energy we bring to this time of year… it’s our choice.
I was working with a client last week who expressed her concerns about the pressure and anxiety the holidays were bringing. She was reflecting on how heavy and sad she felt as she was aware of the family members who passed this year and who won’t physically be at the holiday celebrations, as well as sick family members who will bring a different consciousness to the occasion. It’s so understandable she was feeling such sadness - that’s type of change is noticeably different, and difficult.
And yet, as we connected with her emotional pain (which we’ve done over months when it was present), she realized that she felt like she has actually grieved so much already and what she REALLY wanted most this holiday… was Lightness and Untethered Joy.
Untethered Joy.
The inspiration of those two little words blew me away. 🤯
✨ What would Untethered Joy look like?
✨ What would Untethered Joy feel like?
✨ And how can we all drop into our own childlike nature around the holidays and FEEL boundless, endless, and infinite JOY?
So, I asked myself (and I invite you to ask Yourself), what do you LOVE about this season? What gives YOU joy?
For me it feels like laughter & games, Christmas caroling, silly reindeer ears and Santa hats, Christmas movies under big cozy blankets, books by the fire, experiencing the magical lights around town, creating fun crafts, giving cookies to neighbors, finding amazing thoughtful gifts for dear friends and family… all the things. It might be pretty cliché, but hey, that's what I love!
As parents, it's natural to want to make our kids feel the magic of the season: the elf!, the Advent Calendar, Santa pics, 8 days of great gifts, etc, but then inadvertently, we can get stressed making it just right and then emanate a rushed and edgy energy.
And yet when WE are in our magic and doing the things we LOVE, magic naturally happens for everyone around us too. Our kids won’t remember every gift under the tree but they’ll remember the feeling of the holidays.
So check in with yourself: what energy are you in right now: the DOING energy or the BEING energy? Is there anything that feels like you “just-have-to-get-this-done!?”
Ask yourself, do you really need to do that, and if yes, how can you shift the energy of that task so it’s done with joy, or dare I say it… untethered joy? Even if the task feels small and so "what’s the point to change now?," that pause to find a new way is actually eve-ry-thing. The pause is you choosing yourself and honoring your little girl or boy inside; AND it’s those little shifts toward conscious living that get easier as we practice using those muscles.
The task will still get done, the end result is the same, and perhaps nobody will notice anything different… but the energy within you as you complete "the thing" is different and that. is. EVERYTHING!
So... can you peel back on your to-do list? Can you get help? What feels like a heavy burden that you can shift? For me, wrapping Christmas gifts kinda sounds like a lot of work this year so I’m brainstorming how to make it FUN! Maybe I host a little gift-wrapping party amongst friends. Or my husband and I can get all the materials ready to go, put on some Christmas music, enjoy a glass of wine, and wrap in joy.
My invitation, dear friends, is to consciously shift any dense energy (even a smidge) that you feel this holiday season, and give yourself moments of Untethered Joy. It’s simple but not necessarily easy.
And, if that feels really difficult and unrealistic, I want to invite you to see if there a step you can take to find inner peace so untethered joy is one step closer. Take a quiet moment and deep breath, what's one thing you can do for yourself today? Maybe it is taking another moment to breathe. 💜
You deserve inner peace and joy and when you find it, I wanna hear how you did it and how you feel!
In closing, might I suggest a delicious joyful song that happened to be my TOP SONG of 2022 according to Spotify? Have a listen and enJOY! Joy by Andy Grammer.
✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨
With Love & Light 💜
Abbey