Simplifying the Holidays for Peace and Happiness

In this episode of The Simple Joy Show I dive into the art of creating a Christmas vision to guide you through the holiday season.

Explore how setting a clear, intentional vision for Christmas can transform your experience into one that’s less about stress and more about joy and peace.

Whether you dream of a quiet family gathering, a season of giving, or a minimalist approach to the festivities, this episode will inspire you to align your holiday with what truly matters.

Let’s embrace the holiday spirit with intention and joy!

Stay tuned for more episodes of my podcast, The Simple Joy Show, where we share tips on living a simpler life every Friday.

USEFUL LINKS:

Unwrap Your Christmas Vision: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/christmasvision

Decluttering Saved My Life Episode: https://simplejoy.co.uk/2023/07/07/how-decluttering-saved-my-life/

Join the 30 Day Decluttering Challenge: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/challenge

Website: www.simplejoy.co.uk

How to Get Started Decluttering When Overwhelmed PDF: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/overwhelmed

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellosimplejoy

Facebook Group: The Simple Living Society: www.facebook.com/groups/thesimplelivingsociety

Transcript

Hayley Forster [00:00:00]:

In this episode, I’m going to dive into the art of creating a Christmas vision to guide you through the holiday season. We’re going to explore how setting a clear, intentional vision for Christmas can actually transform your experience into one that’s less about stress amd more about a simple and slower pace.

Hayley Forster [00:03:49]:

It’s the 1st day of December today. So I’m going to talk about Christmas, having a simpler Christmas, and what that can mean to you, and the impact that can make on you and your family’s Christmas. So today, I want to talk about the power of having a Christmas vision. It’s not something that is commonly talked about, but I think it’s a really, really important part of simplifying your Christmas for a much more enjoyable experience. Because let’s be honest, the holiday season, especially Christmas time. I know in the US, you’ve got Thanksgiving which you’ve literally just had. But both of those activities, they’re often wrapped up in a whirlwind of expectations, of pressures, of things to do, you have a long list of jobs to be done, social gatherings, all of that.

Hayley Forster [00:04:39]:

But I just want to ask you if at any point over the past few years, over the festive periods, have you stopped and just asked yourself and explored what you really truly want your Christmas to look like and feel like? And that’s where the concept of a Christmas vision comes into play. Because often, we are swept up in the moment, and we live such busy chaotic lives most of the time. We’re not being very intentional. We usually just get swept up with everything, particularly when it comes to festive celebrations. And we just go along with the moment. We say yes to everything. We want to go all out, we’re, like, “oh, it only happens once a year.

Hayley Forster [00:05:17]:

Let’s make it big, let’s do this, x, y, and z”, which I’m all behind if that’s something that you love doing. I love Christmas. I didn’t used to. If you go back to episode 1, I discussed that in a little bit more detail because when I was 13 year old, my my mam died, 2 days before Christmas. So obviously, for a few years, I really, really struggled with Christmas, and I didn’t really want to do much at Christmas at all. But once I had my own children and I saw the joy that it brought to them. It really brought back the Christmas spirit for me. So I love Christmas. I really enjoy it.

Hayley Forster [00:05:53]:

And for a good few years, I got swept up in these expectations of having a very flamboyant and busy Christmas period. That’s because I was trying to make the best Christmas I could for my children because, obviously, I missed out on a few Christmases when I was younger because of the situation, and I didn’t want my girls to ever feel like that. And I wanted them to have the best Christmases they ever could. But because of that, I put so much pressure on myself, And I probably went a bit overboard with a lot of the presents and the activities that we’d do when I would book our schedule. And every year, it would just stress me out. And I got to the point where actually I wasn’t particularly enjoying Christmas because I felt so anxious about all of the things I had to do. And I thought,

Hayley Forster [00:06:38]:

how am I going to possibly get it all done? But I need to because I need to make it a special time for my kids. And it was just going round and round in circles. That was until one year I decided enough was enough, and I needed to just pare back a little bit. And I started doing a Christmas vision. A Christmas vision, basically, is an idea or an image of how you want your Christmas to unfold and look like. It’s about setting intentions explaining how you want your Christmas to be. Do you envision a quiet Christmas with your close family? Do you want a Christmas that’s focusing on giving to others and volunteering or perhaps just a time of minimal fuss for you to just relax and chill out. Whatever you want your Christmas to be, your Christmas vision basically sets the groundwork for having a much more intentional holiday season.

Hayley Forster [00:07:38]:

I basically came up with this because of the fact that I had went through decluttering my home and my life and it made such a positive impact on me. Ultimately, what it came down to, was me being very, be very intentional. But what I found is that when it came up to Christmas, I lost that intentionality. I got swept up in the festivities. And that’s what was causing the stress and the anxiety for me, is that I knew I wasn’t being intentional. So I just took the principles of what I was using in my day to day life about trying to work out what it is that I actually want, what my my values are, what did I want to focus on, and just get rid of everything else, that whole concept of keeping what holds true to you and what makes you feel good and everything else is classed as clutter. It is about using that principle, but in a more festive approach for Christmas. And what I found is that when I had this Christmas vision,

Hayley Forster [00:08:34]:

every decision about what we do becomes so much easier because I can say no to activities that don’t align to that vision that we’ve got and yes to those that do. The simplification of understanding what I do and what I don’t want to do, it just naturally reduces that hustle and bustle that you get around the Christmas period, and it leads to a much more peaceful holiday. A few years ago, I would have things on every day of the weekend, every weekend, and then I would also have things on an evening to do as well. I just want to actually look at my calendar now for December.

Hayley Forster [00:09:28]:

Let me open up my phone. I don’t actually think I’ve got that many activities in at all. The girls have got a couple of activities with brownies and with school, but other than that, we don’t have a lot of things in there, and that’s actually how I like it. That’s what I intend my Christmas period to be like, because I like being able be at home with the kids, watching Christmas films, playing board games. And, yes, I’ll go out and I’ll do some Christmas shopping, and we’ll go to the Christmas markets and such. But that’s much more ad hoc depending on the weather and not necessarily having loads of things booked up in advance for lots of different activities in different locations every single weekend. Because, personally, I was finding that far too stressful for me.

Hayley Forster [00:10:18]:

The kids would get tired. They would get grumpy. Even though we’re doing lots of lovely festive activities, which they enjoy, it was becoming far too much for them because we were making our calendar so busy. So having this really clear vision about what it is that you want your Christmas to look like, the decisions about what you will and won’t do become so much easier. And it also means that the activities and the traditions that you keep, hold real meaning for you and your family. And that brings a much greater depth of joy to your celebrations as well because you know that the things that you’ve got on the calendar are the things that you love and the things that bring you wonderful memories and the things that you hold dear. Your Christmas vision empowers you to take control of your holiday experience rather than getting swept up in the festivities and chasing up all those invites and trying to be everywhere all at once. By taking control of it makes it so much more enjoyable and much less taxing.

Hayley Forster [00:11:19]:

At the end of the day, you’re going to have reduced stress and overwhelm as well, which is what we all want Christmas. Let’s be honest. We don’t want to feel this anxiety about the preparations that are coming up, and we definitely don’t want to feel anxious during the actual Christmas days themselves. You want to be able to have these special moments with your family and make the most of it, and the Christmas vision enables you to do that. And an additional benefit that I’ve found as well, it can really help you take control of your Christmas finances, because that is something that we used to get very carried away with because I was trying to make it so big, and I probably bought too many presents and had too many activities and it would become a very, very expensive time of year. But again, by being intentional, everything was much more thought through, and I was able to spend much more time on choosing the right gifts.

Hayley Forster [00:12:17]:

I was able to plan what I wanted, and then control my spending. I had a budget. I was able to stick to it. But ultimately, your Christmas vision is about creating a season that brings joy, it it brings contentment and it brings peace to you and your family. It’s about cherishing the moments that matter most to you and finding your happiness in those moments. So as we move closer to the holiday period, I really encourage you to take some time to reflect on your own Christmas vision. What are the elements that are going to make this season much more fulfilling enjoy full for you and your family, and how can you align your celebrations with that vision.

Hayley Forster [00:13:15]:

In order to help you out, I have a PDF, which I have a link for, and I’ll include that in the show notes. But that’s basically a mini little journal that can help you define your Christmas vision. It asks you a few questions about your values, your favourite moments of Christmas, what things perhaps cause you stress in this period. It helps you to embrace those principles of intentionality so you can start that lovely, lovely process of aligning your celebrations with you and your family’s true values and desires, which is what I want for all of you this festive season. So I’d love to hear what your Christmas vision is this year. So feel free to message me or come and join my Facebook group, The Simple Living Society, and let’s inspire each other towards a holiday season that’s not just about doing more, but about being more more present, more joyful and more at peace. So thank you for joining me today on the Simple Joy Show.

Hayley Forster [00:14:17]:

Here’s to a Christmas that’s merry and bright.