New video: How to survive the holidays when you're grieving (creative coping)

Watch on YouTube

Hey there , Happy Thanksgiving week!

If you cringed at the word "happy," chances are you might be going through something. The happy-holidays make it hard for us to engage in all the flurry of activity when inside, we don't feel quite alright.

The good news is that you don't have to just pretend like everything's ok (that's soul-crushing anyway!). You can actually take control of your emotions and thoughts in small ways and begin to make progress in your emotional healing - right in the midst of the holiday season.

It begins with this: PERMISSION.

Just breathe with me for a second - in and out - "I grant myself permission to grieve" (or whatever other emotion you're struggling with). The circumstances you have make it hard to get through. It's okay to not be "okay."

But nobody else is going to grant you permission to grieve; that has to come from from inside of you.

And so I challenge you to actually write out a permission slip to yourself. I created a free downloadable template for that. You can literally just fill in the blanks! PLUS, there's a kid-friendly version if you have a young person who could benefit from this activity, too.

Download here

Taking intentional time for yourself through this hard season isn't selfish; it's wise. And giving yourself permission to grieve has a side effect too, in that it allows other people to be honest with how they're feeling. So, once you accept that, you can also be more present for others.

PS: I've got 3 more videos in this holiday grief series. If you're not interested in grief content at all, click here to opt-out. I'll send you only occasional art videos that are more light-hearted instead.