Thursday is my day off, and I am so thankful for these slow, restful days. As a therapist, I keep slightly odd hours to accommodate my clients’ needs: a lot of evenings and recently I’ve started working Saturdays as well. I really, really love the work I do, but of course I also really love the time I get to myself. This morning I woke to a couple inches of snow, and I went back to my warm bed and cuddled up with my snuggly cat and cherished this day set aside for my own processing, rest, and healing. 

Today, I need joy. I feel this need deep in my bones. I need to allow my heart to marinate in all the joy it can today, to strengthen and rejuvenate me; so there are orange slices drying in the oven, and I’ve been gathering bits of beauty for garland-making. The snow has turned to rain now and made the outside world slushy, but I don’t have to face that just yet; right now I can soak in the warmth and coziness of my home and just enjoy the wintry scenes while staying warm and dry. 

I always have to remind myself to put into practice the things I tell my clients, and one of the things I encourage them most to do is to self-soothe through their senses, to be present to the moment they are in as a way to combat the worries trying to take them out of the moment that they are actually in, back to a past they cannot change or forward to a future they don’t yet know.

So right now, in this moment, I’m breathing in deeply the scent of the slow-drying oranges in my kitchen and the balsam pillow beside me. I’m savoring the amalgamation of bitter coffee, creamy almond milk, and spicy cinnamon in my latte. I’m listening to the sounds of nature and of my little town around me: the snow plows and salt trucks and shovels and the soft sounds of the rain. I’m looking out the window and taking in the white of the snow and the green of the pines. I’m feeling the wool in my hands as I knit and appreciating the different textures that emerge from the fabric I’m making. I’m reminding myself that God is everywhere present, filling all things, and I’m allowing my heart to open to the joy of His Presence in this particular moment and season. 

I love how preparing well can be as simple as this. I often make it so complicated in my mind, but really, preparation at its core is mindfulness of the day we’re in and allowance of Christ’s particular presence in it to shape us and make us ready for the ways He will continue to be present to us in the days ahead, the Feast of the Nativity that will be here so soon, the celebration of the joining of flesh and divinity that transformed what it means to be human.

“Be thou ready, Bethlehem, Eden hath opened unto all. Ephratha, prepare thyself, for now, behold, the Tree of life hath blossomed forth in the cave from the Holy Virgin. Her womb hath proved a true spiritual Paradise, wherein the divine and saving Tree is found, and as we eat thereof we shall all live and shall not die as did Adam. For Christ is born now to raise the image that had fallen aforetime.” -Apolytikion of the Forefeast of the Nativity