Dear DFAA Members,

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The holidays can be very stressful for many people. There are so many forces competing for our time (and our money) that it can become overwhelming trying to keep up. So it makes sense that magazines are full of articles about how to de-stress the holidays or how to simplify your celebrations for greater enjoyment. Typically, they don’t contain any earth-shattering information that we haven’t already considered, but seeing the ideas presented with bullet points and alliteration gives one pause for a moment. Perhaps there really is some wisdom in there somewhere.

 

And sometimes on closer inspection, you might notice that the suggestions presented for holiday stress reduction can be applied more universally. Today, I came across a post (simplelionheartlife.com) entitled “How to Simplify the Holidays: Stress Less, Enjoy More”. The abbreviated list of holiday wisdom goes like this:

• Identify your priorities and prioritize them – decide what’s important to you
• Adjust your expectations – don’t expect perfection
• Focus on gratitude – notice and appreciate the positive
• Simplify your holiday traditions – keep only those that matter to you
• Be intentional in how you spend your time – do things that matter to you
• Simplify cooking and baking – sometimes less is more
• Simplify decorating – usually less is more
• Simplify gifts – a lesson for both givers and receivers – often less is more

 

I can think of a lot of places in my life where variations on those ideas are relevant. Certainly, our art practices could draw from some of the same wisdom: decide what’s important to you in your work; don’t expect perfection of yourself (or others); appreciate the positive; spend your time on things that matter to you; and very often less is more. I feel less stressed already.

 

Have a joyous holiday season (Stress Less, Enjoy More) and create joyfully!

Donna Barnhart

President, DFAA