The Art of

WholeHearted Living

Stories, Strategies and Surprises

Love. Appreciation. Wonder.

December 22, 2022

Love

This is the energy back behind all form. You. Your family and friends. Loved ones who sing with the Angels. Santa. And every gift, holiday light, and tension you experience. It’s your nature.

Let your Love glow.

Love freely even when with people or in situations that make you crazy. We’re all crazy. Love the crazy. Whatever you’re doing, sprinkle it with love. If it’s your nature, it’s a natural impulse. Seek it and share it.

Appreciation

My heart broke open this morning. Appreciating the fullness of life I was experiencing. The sweetness and the profound sorrow. The connections and the desire to reconnect. The hustle bustle and the stillness. It’s all in there. Life amazes me and I dissolve in appreciation, as long as I’m moving slowly enough to notice.

Pay attention. Appreciation wants to express through you.

It’s your nature. Be generous with yourself throughout the holiday. Appreciate where you’re at and show up as the real you. Doesn’t matter if your cookies taste good, you’re hungover, or just too damn cheery for most people in the room.

You be you.

Let your appreciation for others spill out into every interaction.

They really need this simple act of being noticed and thanked. 

It’s a basic human need. Something we can all relate to. Plus, it just feels good. Kinda like drinking warm cocoa.I bet it isn’t too hard to find tiny and big ways you appreciate another person. Or a situation. Or even a really big problem.   

Appreciation invites freedom to the holiday table.   

And freedom is a much better dinner guest than tension or judgement.   

Wonder.  

As a question. I wonder what marvelous thing or event will appear at our holiday celebration?   As a feeling. It’s often a whole body experience with a sense that life has delivered something to your door that was way beyond your expectation. It could be momentary or sustained wonder. Either way, it feels great. Every cell agrees.  

The magic of Santa. The new baby at the holiday table. The unexpected opening of hearts.

  Wonder at the stories in all sacred traditions. Of a light that guided the way to joy, peace, and sweet happiness with one another. On this Winter Solstice, I invite you to remember the Light within all beings and all of the natural world.  

Seek and ye shall find.   

What you seek matters. For all of us.  

I’m wishing you joy, peace, and love as you celebrate the sacred moments within this Season of Light.   

Thanks for being a part of this lovely community whether it’s receiving this Blog or showing up at Soul Sanctuary. I’m glad you’re around. You make my life richer with your Presence.  

Happy holidays.

Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.

HeartWarming

News

Always be on the lookout for Wonder. It’s a game changer. Wonder is a complex emotion best investigated by direct experience. It may be defined as a heightened state of emotion and consciousness. Prompted by something that is rare, unexpected, and beautiful. It holds elements of surprise, joy, curiosity, and contemplation. It drops you into an expanded state by surprise and delights you with the shift in perception of your surroundings and life itself. Settling into the moment, cultivating stillness, and calling forth love and appreciation may leave you Wonder Prone.  

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