In this busy season, have you stopped and thought about what gives you joy? In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she recommends regularly going on an “Artist’s Date.” The concept is to schedule weekly time away so that you may engage in activities that bring you joy and inspiration.
It’s a great idea. My creativity often can use a boost, but my Artist Dates lately have been inconsistent. So, for December, I decided to tweak this idea slightly and combine it with an established tradition at our home.
Instead of loads of gifts we really don’t need, we decided on a “Twelve Days of Christmas” theme to do twelve things each evening before Christmas that bring us joy. This could be adapted to other holiday traditions as well, choosing a period of time that is meaningful to your holiday observance.
The activities are determined in advance, and written on individual slips of paper, folded, and dropped in a box. Bonus points if it’s a decorated box! Each night, we’ll draw a slip of paper and do what it says.
This year our joyful activities are:
- Eat popcorn and watch the Hallmark channel
- Go to the mall and just look and walk (the exercise will do us good)
- Go for a hike/snowshoe (okay so we need some exercise)
- Hot cocoa and board games (and maybe some schnapps)
- Go out for a sweet treat (Cinnabon, TCBY, or maybe some schnapps)
- Visit New Bo (a local shopping & historical neighborhood)
- Christmas shop for Toys for Tots (or your favorite local charity)
- Go for a light peeping drive in our jammies
- Giftwrap and movie night (in our jammies)
- Wii night (in our jammies)
- Barnes & Noble night (NOT in our jammies!)
- Go out for a hike/snowshoe (AGAIN, we need the exercise!)
What would be on your list?
