My little holiday love note…

written by Bari Tessler December 24, 2012

The dear Hannah Marcotti invited me to write a holiday love note.
She included it in her ‘Joy Up’ Community, where she mixes magic, soulwork, tradition, ritual with grounding in the now.  Joy Up is a wonderful place to hang out online during the month of December. And, Hannah is known as the faery who supports her beauties to step deeper into their joy at this sensitive time of the year.

Inspired by Hannah, I sat down to write…
and see what stories would pour out of me.
Typically I have my editor or co-writer close by, but on this day, I flew solo 🙂

My little holiday love note

For me, holiday time conjures up so many emotions all at the same time.
from deep love, joy + connectedness . . . to deep sadness . . . to deep introspection
& re-evaluation . . . and back again to deep joy, rest, rejuvenation, celebration and connectedness.

I welcome the whole range this holiday season.

I welcome the rituals, gatherings, feasting, sleeping, visioning, celebrating.
I welcome the timelessness of this season.

Some of my most treasured memories from holidays past & present:

Being welcomed into my first christmas (at my in-laws) and receiving a beautiful menorah to honor my heritage. I felt seen, connected, welcomed and loved.

Lighting candles and bringing in the light, at the darkest time of the year. Celebrating Hannukkah with my son. Singing hebrew to him, which immediately connects with me something really deep inside + larger than myself. Songs, melodies and prayers that I learned as a child which have stayed with me through time and space. Feeling my child’s energy shift as I hold him in my arms. At age 3, he gets present and open from this simple ritual. I feel connected + so grateful to get to share these rituals with my little boy that I grew inside of me.

Gathering with an old community of dance/musician friends (who were my self-chosen family when I first arrived in Boulder, CO in my early 20’s). Live drumming happening in the background. Sitting around the fire. Feasting on paella and mussels. Watching our children run around and play. I feel community, love, and timelessness.

More gatherings with new community, friends and family of my hubby’s men’s group. More feasting.  Homemade cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and gluten-free stuffing. Watching my son taste this food for the very first time and love it.

Later, our 4 year old child reaches out his hands, to connect us in gratitude for our food. (He watched us do this at a larger holiday gathering and he naturally continues the ritual at home. We happily join him.)

Tucking away some space and time for end-of-the-year mind-maps with my husband. Late night stories and reviews of what is working, what is not, and the roads we are oh-so-ready to step into. Creating together. Weaving together. Feeling it. Breathing life into it. Celebrating what we have created. Feeling sadness and grief for what we have lost, or what has yet to be created and lived.

Tapping into that pure creative inspiration to begin a new year again.

Deep rest. Extra sleep. Maybe even a novel. Family hikes.

Support from the grandparents to love up our child. Watching them pass on their traditions of decorating the tree with ornaments they’ve saved for decades.

Quiet, alone time on my mountain trail to feel where I have been, where I am going. Aligning and readying myself for what I am being called into for the new year, The Art of Money. Preparing to offer my deepest and fullest work yet, to my beloved community.  I am ready to lead a money-movement.

Ah, this beautiful, mysterious, rich, soulful, deep, dark time of the year draws me in every time.

As I read this again, I realize that I wrote myself a little holiday healing love note.  And I am grateful.

Now I invite you, dear friend, to write your own little holiday healing love note to yourself.

with love and holiday blessings,

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