Having a Creative Holiday Season

Being Creative Helps Reduce Stress

Having a creative holiday season can be one of the best antidotes to stress. Being creative tends to reduce stress in our lives. There are a lot of moving parts this year that we don’t have that much control over, but we do have the ability to choose our response. Being creative makes good use of your right brain and takes you out of analyzing everything that is going on.

We share with you today some ideas on how to tap into your creativity to have less stress this holiday season and enjoy it more!

Creative Holiday Ideas at Home

Getting our homes ready for the holidays can either be a task or a joy. I’ve greatly simplified my holiday decorating over the years. It used to take many days to get all the decorations up, and now it only takes about an hour. It has freed up so much time, and our house doesn’t look any less festive during the holidays.  So, we share some ideas for your home that can make for a more creative approach to the season:

• Family Activities: Take a drive to see local holiday lighting, have a movie marathon, have an ugly sweater day, go see the lighted boat parade in Petaluma, or go to the beach and see if you can see whales.
• Craft Ideas: Make a wreath from your older ornaments, string cookie cutters, wood beads, try your hand at a gingerbread house, or make an old-fashioned pomander ball out of an orange.
• Baking & Cooking: Have a cookie decorating day with friends, try your hand at Mocktails, try a three-ingredient fudge, or one of the new Keto cookie recipes.

Use Your Creativity at the Office

Office parties and all the extra responsibilities that come with holidays can add to more stress. We share some ideas that can lighten up being a business owner or employee during the holiday season:

• Giving Back: Help organize a winter charity drive to give back to the community. Food drives for our community really are helpful. Your office staff can also volunteer at local organizations for a few hours to increase community spirit and give back. Nursing homes enjoy visitors, or a community food bank enjoys volunteers, or visit a local animal shelter to pet animals.
• Team Building: Have an ugly sweater day, decorate the office, play trivia at lunch, or host an office cookie exchange.
• Gift Exchanges: Organize a “Secret Santa” gift exchange, a DIY ornament exchange, or exchange your favorite recipes digitally so they can be put into a recipe book.
• Food & Social Events: Host a holiday potluck or cookie exchange. Have a lunchtime gratitude circle where team members can share what they appreciate about each other.

Connecting with Friends Creatively

Over the last few years, I’ve had some of my closest friends move to the East Coast and Europe. Now this handful of friends is more than a car ride away. We have come u with ways to connect and spread the joy even though they are miles away:

• Virtual Connecting: We have used Zoom and FaceTime as a way to stay in touch. We also switch up who is in charge of getting everyone together virtually, so it doesn’t always rest on one person. We have done cookie exchanges, gift exchanges, and recipe exchanges over the years.
• Try Something New: Between all our friends, we have a diverse selection of hobbies and abilities. We have found teaching each other a skillset others don’t have is a great way to connect. I think when we have gotten together to learn something none of us are skilled at has really bonded our friendship. Think of learning to can, knit, bake bread, or build a chicken coop together. The possibilities are endless!
• Spread Joy: Volunteer at a food bank, food kitchen, nursing home, or a holiday event to help those in need. Getting together and cleaning out closets together and then donating clothes and toys to a homeless shelter or an abused women’s shelter brings a lot of joy to others and also to the givers. Mr. Rogers said,” Look for the helpers”, and it’s an opportunity to be one.

Be Creative & Enjoy

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it is easy to lose your center. I believe the holiday season is an important time to nurture our own creativity and joy. So many stress experts encourage us not to pack even more into our lives during the holidays because it will leave us depleted and not enjoying the present moment joys of the season. Marie Shriver shared recently that No is a complete sentence. You’ve got to love this! It’s about boundaries during the holiday season, so you have the energy to enjoy what you love. So, here are some thoughts on how to be singularly creative during the holiday season:

• Journaling: Start a gratitude journal or just pour out your thoughts on paper.
• Artwork: Try painting, and if that is too scary, try a paint-by-number kit for adults.
• Bake Bread: It’s easier than you think, and there are some great 3-ingredient bread recipes out there.
• Learn to Knit or Crochet: We have a new store in Sebastopol that teaches everything from knitting to canning.
• Books: Take the time to read the book that has been gathering dust.
• Dance: Crank up your phone or stereo and just dance!
• Music: Learn to play an instrument. We have some great musicians locally that also teach, or you can use an online line source.
• Yoga: Try yoga, Tai Chi, or Qigong, either in person or online. Any of these is are great way to keep your body supple and move stress out of your body.

We hope you enjoy the holiday season this year. Remember that you can delegate house cleaning, party preparation, or clean up, or decorating to Crystal Clear Home. You can give us a call at 707-827-3316 or fill out our free estimate form, and one of our cleaning professionals will be in touch promptly to give you a free estimate and answer your questions.