Moments of journeying, such as quiet reflection, a creative project, or a new place, can help you connect with your heart and foster growth and healing.
With Thanksgiving over in the US, the winter holiday season is in full swing, and with that comes not just the pleasures and joy of the season, but also its endless lists, emotional expectations, and mounting responsibilities. Many of us feel our time slip away and our energy scatter as we let our own needs silently fall to the bottom of our priorities. Between work, caregiving, family demands, and holiday preparation, it can feel nearly impossible to carve out a moment of free time that belongs entirely just to you.
But paradoxically, this season is one of the most important times to pause, breathe, and reconnect with yourself.
We often think we can wait for the chaos to let up and promise ourselves: I’ll take care of myself after the holidays… after things slow down… after everyone else is settled.
But stress doesn’t simply pass on its own. And during times of heightened pressure, our nervous system needs more, not less, support.
Consider this your soft reminder to pause, even briefly, and check in with yourself. How are YOU doing?
Have you been so busy working, caregiving, holding everything together, that you have drifted away from your own desires? Have you forgotten what you even need and like? Maybe those whispering nudges to explore, create, rest, or play haven’t even shown up in a long time.
We all lose ourselves sometimes. But it’s never too late. You can rediscover who you are. You can reconnect. You can find your way back to yourself.
What Does It Mean to “Journey”?
Recently, my husband and I, who hadn’t traveled together in four years (we’ve been caring for three elderly parents), went on a brief getaway. (More about this in my latest Substack article.) Something about that experience felt unexpectedly cathartic. I felt myself reawaken. It reminded me that humans are wired to journey, inward and outward. We need movement, novelty, creativity, and space to see ourselves from a new vantage point.
While journeying can mean travel adventures, packed suitcases, and plane tickets, it can be much more expansive than just a destination. It can mean stepping outside the automatic patterns of daily life long enough to reconnect with yourself, to your curiosity, your longings, and your inner voice.
A journey might also look like:
- A quiet walk in a nearby park.
- A yoga class, book club, or new hobby you’ve been wanting to try.
- A conversation with someone who truly sees you.
- Five gentle minutes of journaling (you can start with the prompts in my article).
Why You Might Feel Resistance to Journeying
For some of us, finding our way back to ourselves takes more effort, especially if we grew up with chronic stress or adversity.
Research shows that individuals with childhood adversity have a more sensitive stress-response system. Their bodies react to stress more quickly, more intensely, and take longer to return to baseline. Holidays often amplify these patterns:
- old family dynamics
- pressure to be “fine”
- people-pleasing
- over-functioning
- emotional exhaustion
When your stress system is already on high alert, you lose contact with your own internal signals. The stress drowns out clarity about your desires, preferences, limits, and needs. It can make journeying, whether inward or outward, feel impossible.
But it’s never too late. Not even during the most overwhelming season of the year. You just need to take the first small step.
Journeying Helps You Reconnect
Moment by moment, journeying brings you back. It helps to:
- calm your stress response
- rekindle curiosity
- increase feelings of connection
- restore inner calm
- help you access your inner voice again
- expand your sense of possibility
You may not have much free time right now (if any!), but you can still plan out these moments that belong only to you. These small acts will help you find your way back to yourself.
I invite you to explore more with me in my newest article, where I discuss why journeying matters and how it can bring you back to the parts of yourself that have gone quiet, opening the door to healing.
✨ Plus, I include gentle writing prompts to help you discover what your inner voice is calling you to explore next.
From my family to yours, wishing you a gentle, peaceful holiday season.
We heal together💖
Donna
✨MY BOOKS:
- The Adverse Experiences Guided Journal
- Girls on the Brink
- The Angel and the Assassin
- Childhood Disrupted
✨MY COURSE:
