Designing a Grace-Filled Holiday

Embracing Simplicity, Connection, and Joy Over Perfection This Holiday Season

Pinterest boards, influencer campaigns, and gift guides know how to put the pressure on. Inspired, you make your holiday bucket list and to-dos in hopes of creating a Pinterest or Instagram-worthy holiday home and experience. I've experienced this pressure more recently in the years that I've become a mom. As a mom, you are the magic-maker, the memory-maker -- the one who is in charge of creating festive activities and traditions that will one day turn into cherished holiday memories and generational traditions. But even before kids, I felt the pressure to capture the joy and holiday magic. I did my best to recreate Pinterest boards with Christmas decor and keep up with extended family gift-giving on a very humble budget, and despite my best intentions and planning, I was always coming up short. While striving to create the perfect Christmas, I almost missed the beauty of the simple, grace-filled moments that the holidays bring.

While it's fun to indulge in Pinterest boards, influencer content, and aesthetic gift guides while creating holiday bucket lists, to-do lists, and schedules, you don't need them to make the season merry and bright. Over the years, I’ve learned to shift my approach. The holidays don’t need to be perfect to be meaningful. When we let go of striving and embrace simplicity, connection, and grace, we are reminded of the reason for the season, and that reason grounds us with perspective. If we let it, this grounding can help us shift our expectations.