{"id":2468,"date":"2017-12-08T22:06:16","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T22:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/an-introverts-guide-to-the-holidays\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T18:11:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T18:11:53","slug":"an-introverts-guide-to-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/blog\/an-introverts-guide-to-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introvert’s Guide to the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

\n\tWords: Christen Hammons<\/a><\/span>\n\t\n\tPhoto credit: Brooke Lark<\/a><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s no time of year I love more than the days between Thanksgiving and New Year\u2019s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Houses are filled with the warm scents of delicious baked goods. Streets are aglow with twinkle lights. Groups of family and friends come together for dinner and some laughs.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a busy time of year for us all, and while some people thrive in the hustle and bustle, there are others, like me, who can find it a little more than overwhelming. A quick glance at my upcoming full calendar can make me pause. The need to be socially \u201con\u201d for hours at a time, as well as all the noise and sometimes confusion can be draining for introverts. As much as I love spending time with everyone I love, I know how important it is to be sure to carve out some time for myself. Here are a few tips I\u2019ve learned over the years on how to navigate the busiest time of the year without getting burned out:<\/p>\n

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\u2022 Set aside daily moments for yourself. During the holidays I will often stay up later than my husband and enjoy a cup of tea and a book beside the Christmas tree. If that doesn\u2019t work, I will get up earlier than him to be sure I have a quiet moment alone.<\/p>\n

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\u2022 Find a quiet corner. When I attend a crowded holiday party, I will often seek out a space I can retreat to when I get overwhelmed. Most of my friends and family realize I sometimes I need a time out so they do not pause to wonder why I\u2019ve gone to sit by myself for a minute or two. I will also occasionally grab a friend or my husband and ask them to come step away with me while I recharge a bit.<\/p>\n

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\u2022 Limit your commitments. You may feel pressure to agree to go to every event you\u2019re invited to. Decide what events are your priorities and attend those. Personally, I need quiet nights at home spent wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies, so I make sure to leave time for that.<\/p>\n

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\u2022 Host your own gathering. My husband and I host New Year\u2019s every year for our friends. This allows us to plan things as we prefer, so instead of attending an overly loud, rambunctious party, we have a handful of couples over for some good snacks and a few board games.<\/p>\n

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Do you have tips for navigating through this time of year? We\u2019d love to see them in the comments.<\/p>\n

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Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to you all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  There\u2019s no time of year I love more than the days between Thanksgiving and New Year\u2019s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-holidays"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}