I've been thinking a lot about Christmas this year, more than any other year due to Covid.
So many things running through my mind all the time, Like......
What's Christmas going to look like?
Will I be alone?
Can I see my family?
Can we afford Christmas?
How will I get presents to the family, do we need to do presents this year?
Why is there so much pressure for this one day?
and when the hell am I gonna hug my family again????
So many people are losing their jobs, their homes and their businesses due to this virus and i feel like
Christmas is just an added pressure, that we really don't need. To be honest, Christmas is stressful anyway, without all this shit. Christmas can be a lush day for a lot of people, it can also be a hard day as well, especially, if you've lost someone that year or maybe you've had a knock to your financial situation or family situation. 25th of December brings turkey, tinsel and a sack full of emotions, especially after a buck fizz for breakfast and a few cheeky sherries at 11.
I've been thinking, how can we make Christmas easier for ourselves this year, maybe a bit cheaper and enjoyable, even if we can't be fighting over the last cracker and clinking baileys in-front of the fire.
Here's my little list of things to help you get through Christmas this year. ( insert Christmas music and a glass of baileys)
Chill the fuck out with presents.
Do you need to buy loads of gifts for everyone, can you afford it. No? Then don't buy them. You don't want to be skint in January, you might not have the money now. Plus, you're probably buying people all the shit they never need. So, why bother? Talk to the fam, see if you can all agree to a secret Santa kind of thing. Where you only buy one person a gift. Make sure, you put a cap on how much you're all looking to spend. Be a lot more fun than sweating in a mask in Argos for hours on end. You could just do a year of no presents or a year of second hand presents. thrifty!!!! I was thinking about asking everyone to make something for each other.. I'd probably make sloe gin for everyone. Mum, would make some food based stuff. We don't need to spend thousands of pounds for one day to show someone that we love them.
plus, i hate wrapping presents. So chill out. talk to your family, I bet they feel the same and don't want the stress.
Do something for you.
This year has been a shitter. Staying indoors for months on end, going out, staying in again, work from home, lockdown, stats, R rate, wash your hands. The list goes on.... I've decided this year, that i'm gonna try and look after myself a little bit more. Do 5 things a week for me. I'm gonna add them in the notes on my phone and make sure that i do them. Maybe, you should do 5 things for you a week.
Mine are...
Have a bubble bath with some chilled out tunes, candles every week.
Go for a walk on my own ( or with the dog) so i can have time to reflect, chill out.
Sell some clothes to make money and to declutter, I'm going to try and sell 1 thing a week on Ebay or Depop.
Watch TV or a film without checking my phone.
Chill out. When things get too much. Walk away, have a cuppa, chill. Take 5.
Support small businesses.
This year, i will be making a conscious effort to support small businesses, especially over the christmas period. We are seeing more and more small businesses closing due to the financial difficulty with this virus. Which is heartbreaking. So, if we can all try our best to buy our christmas food and products from local producers. it can have a massive impact to your local economy and support local jobs.
How to do this?
* Pop to your local farmers markets to pick up your fruit, veg and other bits and bobs.
* Buy your meat from a local butcher.
* So many producers are online now - Have a look at Facebook marketplace or check on instagram.
* Subscribe to a delivery service from a small business, I've had seafood platter, beer mail and a lot of cake deliveries from small local businesses.
* Check out Etsy for local producers that are making gifts that you could buy for yourself or others.
* Buy a skinny, spiced pumpkin latte, extra cream, extra hot, double shot from an indie coffee shop
* Buy vouchers from an indie as gifts.
* Give a shout out to your indie on socials.
One thing that i love about shopping locally, is that personal touch. You get to know the person behind the product, you get personal service that suits your needs and it's a day out in it's self. Which is great.
Stop the press.
This is a simple one, take time out from reading the news, scrolling on your socials, watching the news on tv or obsessing over stats. I've had to learn to this myself. My anxiety levels were through the roof during the peak of covid. I had the news on all day. It made me feel a bit ill at one point. Now i have to discipline myself to switch off. Every time, i have an urge to check the news. i stop and make a coffee, just to get my mind off things for a while.
Send some loves to others.
Do something nice for others this Christmas, it doesn't have to cost much. it could be stopping to talk to someone, who are on their own. Checking on your neighbours, smiling at someone in a queue ( all socially distanced obvs). This winter is gonna be a tough one, so sliding into someone's dm for a quick chat about a carrot cake, could put a smile on your face and theirs. We've all got to look after each other.
Remind yourself, it's one bloody day.
Oh yeah, Christmas is on for one day. Chill the fuck out. Drink something nice. Don't stress and do something for you.
It's all gonna be ok. If you fancy a chat on insta - slide away into my DMS.
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