Not The Christmas I’d Planned…!
If you’ve been following along on socials, you might’ve caught that my festive season didn’t quite go to plan.
It all started the week before Christmas—a whirlwind of visiting family in Hertfordshire, a funeral in Kent, then back to Hertfordshire. Somehow, back in Cornwall on the 23rd & 24th, we managed to squeeze in the last of the shopping, tick everything off the list, and by Christmas Eve, I felt pretty smug. Table laid, veg prepped, presents wrapped – I’d even hosted a festive Zoom catch-up with our Art and Magic of Encaustic crew. Things were looking good.
Christmas Eve was perfect: a couple of hours out for some festive cheer, back home for a glass of wine (okay, maybe two!) and a cozy night in. I was ready for the big day, planning to start the morning off at the Bude Christmas Day swim! But at 4am, I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a runaway sleigh. Fever, chills, aches – the works. So much for that early morning start on the beach.
By mid-morning, I had to admit defeat, I called my parents, and cancelled the Christmas dinner. I didn’t get out of bed for three days!
On 28th, I made it downstairs to the sofa, and my hubby was nominated chief chef. He was given step-by-step instructions by me, from the sofa, on how to cook a turkey, roast potatoes, and a paired down version of all the trimmings! He got into a bit of a rhythm with it, and I think he quite enjoyed it for a while… However, there was a slight hiccup, when on checking the meat, I noticed he’d turned the grill on instead of the oven…!! We salvaged it, and honestly, it turned out to be the best turkey we’ve had in years… we’re wondering if we’ve inadvertently stumbled on a new Wrathall family cooking tradition!! 😆
Not that I ate much, but at least it didn’t go to waste and we were able to freeze the extras.
I did very little for the next few days, apart from napping and watching The World Darts Championships & The Sound of Music on TV! It was about all my brain could take… Sometimes, your body just says, “Enough!” And mine was crystal clear. No doing, no end-of-year plans, no parties – just rest.
It’s not often that we allow ourselves prolonged periods of time to reflect and just be, and in the quietness and stillness, when I started feeling better, I asked myself what should I know? What should I do? What are my next steps?
The only answer that came back to me, was one from my parents when I was little, when we went out to town on busy market days… they would say “If you get lost, stand still, we will come and find you”.
Those words were so clear, and nothing else would come to me apart from that one line… So, that’s what I did, I stood still, (well, laid still, alternating between my bed and the sofa!) and continued to do nothing…!
Over the next few days, in amongst the quiet, the strangest things started happening…
My intuition would tell me to pick up my phone, I’d end up on YouTube, and the most perfect healing meditation would be there at the top of my feed (Search for Brian Scott – highly recommended!)
I was led to audiobooks that I hadn’t heard in sometime… The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, and Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas… they all contained the perfect messages for what I needed at that moment in time. Although I’d heard these books before, they seemed to hit differently this time around.
This is when those words “stand still and we will come and find you” really hit home.
I was laying perfectly still, and yet the exact messages I needed to hear were finding me.
All a far cry from my busy, doing mode, that despite my best efforts, I so often find myself in.
So, if you are amongst the many who seem to have been knocked sideways with illness this festive season, or like me, find yourself rather too often in doing mode… perhaps take some time, find some stillness, and listen to any messages that come to you.
I definitely feel as if I received what I needed to hear, I am now feeling renewed, refreshed, and whilst I’m still very aware that we’re still in the depths of winter, I’ve never really resonated with the rah rah New Year New You vibe… I prefer Spring for new beginnings… I do feel ready to move forward creatively again. I’ve spent time sketching and doodling, and enjoying my inner creativity at a pace that feels good to me.
This period of stillness brought me clarity and renewed inspiration. I’ve refined my free online courses, created a new mini course, and have fresh ideas for members in The Art and Magic of Encaustic community. If you’d like to explore these, you can find them here.
As I step into 2025, I’m embracing this lesson: sometimes, it’s not about doing more—it’s about standing still and allowing what you need to find you. I hope you’ll join me in carving out space for creativity, reflection, and those unexpected moments of magic that life brings when we pause.
Here’s to a healthier, more balanced year ahead.
Warm wishes,
Julie x
🎨🐝✨💕
If you’d like to explore encaustic art, or see what I’ve been working on, here’s where you can find my courses and original pieces here:
