A happier holiday 🎄✨

How journaling has made my holidays more joyful (and less stressful)

This holiday season has been prettttyyy chill.

Stress? I don’t know her.

Overwhelm? Not in my vocabulary.

Anxiety? Not in the driver’s seat (for now, anyway)

Last week I wrapped up my journaling series, happy holidays: less chaos, more joy.

What came up again and again with my fellow journalers was how different this holiday season feels compared to previous years.

Even though we’re experiencing everyday stressors (wrapping up stuff at work, battling gnarly school colds, etc.), the holidays aren’t adding to the stress.

(When does that ever happen?!)

Instead, the holidays are shaping up to actually be the bright spot we always want them to be.

When I set out to create this journaling series, it was because I didn’t want to wake up on January 1 feeling Grinch-y that the holiday season passed by in a blur yet again.

I wanted to experience ✨holiday magic✨.

Journaling through the holidays has fundamentally changed how I’m moving through this season — and life in general. Words like ‘intentional,’ ‘present,’ and ‘grounded’ thrown around a lot, but journaling helped me truly feel them.

More joy, less stress.

How journaling has transformed my holidays

Here is what has actually made a difference in my holiday experience, all thanks to journaling:

1. I created a holiday bucket list — and actually did The Things

During our first session I had us write a holiday bucket list. Seeing my list now, a lot of what I wrote feels kinda childish, LOL.

(I guess my inner child needs some serious TLC?)

I kinda forgot about what I’d written until the last journaling session where I had us go back and read everything we wrote. As I was reviewing my list I realized I had done pretty much everything on it (!)

(L to R): Holiday afternoon tea, peppermint churros at Disneyland, a book tree puzzle, and Claire Saffitz's Buche de Noel cookies

💡*aha moment*: Writing down what matters makes it real. Without this moment of clarity I would have missed out on what what was really important to me — simple joys.

2. I’m asking for what I need (and setting boundaries)

As I was reflecting on what brings me peace when life feels chaotic, I thought about practical things like taking a walk, going to the grocery store (I could spend hours walking the aisles!), or making myself a matcha.

And then in the very last seconds of writing, this simple clarifying message emerged:

ask for what I need 💡

I stared at the ink on the page. OF COURSE asking for what I need can bring me peace when life feels overwhelming! Here’s a video where I talk about how I applied this wisdom IRL during a chaotic early Christmas family breakfast.

illuminatejournaling

A post shared by @illuminatejournaling

Another writing exercise we did was reflecting on what boundaries we needed to set, either for ourselves or others.

(Ya know, just a lightweight topic)

I wrote about how I really did not want to spend the holidays with my extended family. Not for any other reason than I just don’t enjoy it and that’s not how I want to spend my time (or my holiday).

A couple days later, an invite came over text and I honored myself by RSVPing no.

The plans? Staying home.

Does this mean I’ll be spending Christmas Eve alone? Yep! But I’d rather be alone (I really enjoy my own company), than doing something I don’t enjoy out of obligation.

💡*aha moment*: Boundaries aren’t always about saying ‘no’ to others… they’re about saying YES to yourself.

3. I’m sharing my gifts and talents more often

One of my favorite journal prompts lately is, “What skills or talents are you grateful for and how can you share them?”

I love this question because the skills/talents that come up are inevitably the things that light me up the most! For this particular prompt I wrote about how grateful I am for my writing and creativity. It gave me the bright idea to make my own holiday cards and write a poem that I could send to friends.

My handmade holiday cards that I watercolored (I'm v into the bow trend at the moment)

A poem inspired by reconnecting with friends from college

💡*aha moment*: Sharing what lights us up lights up others.

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Not only has this holiday season been about finding more joy, it’s also been about (re)connecting to myself.

I’m not yet sure if connecting to myself is what is bringing about so much joy, or if joy is helping me to connect to myself.

What I do know, is that my life is feeling all the more full, spacious, and aligned. And that feels GOOD heading into 2025.

So let’s keep this energy going, shall we?

I’m so excited to announce my next journaling workshop: ✨New Year, More Me✨

This isn’t your typical January resolutions/goal planning workshop.

No spreadsheets. No over-the-top resolutions. And definitely no pressure to become a “new you.”

(Why did we ever feel the need to reinvent ourselves every January?! That’s exhausting… and exhaustion is not the vibe for 2025!)

We don’t need to become someone new. What we need is to connect more deeply with ourselves.

And that’s exactly what we’ll do in ✨New Year, More Me✨, a 75-minute journaling workshop that will turn self-reflection into a fun and inspiring way to start 2025.

This isn’t about overhauling your whole life or “fixing” anything about yourself.

It’s about embracing where you are, celebrating how far you’ve come, and building momentum for the coming year, all in a way that feels true to YOU.

By focusing less on resolutions and more on reflection you will get laser focused on what matters to you, with journaling prompts that spark clarity and inspiration.

You’ll leave with a fresh perspective, renewed energy, and a vision for the upcoming year that feels as natural as it is meaningful.

If this is how you want to kick off your 2025, join me on Friday, January 3!