From my tender heart to yours 💛

Winter love and grief. A list of beautiful things & gifts for you.

As the moon is peeking through my window just after sunset at 4:21 pm, I am writing my last letter to you before the holidays and the end of the calendar year. Sharing some things I loved recently - experiences, gift ideas, reflections, life’s sweet surprises, and stories to remember. I’ll also be talking about grief in the depths of the dark winter nights.

Today, I won’t be writing about what I do, always do or used to do for the holidays. I won’t be going down memory lane (although I’ve spent Christmas in the most unusual places and spaces over the years, stories worth sharing another time).

Yes, I do love the festive season, the cosiness inside the homes and nature’s beauty outside. So many rituals and traditions I adore. For me, every year, every Advent and Christmas are unique and this year this time is a very emotional time. I honour all the feelings, fears, and worries. Grief, love and joy.

Sunset & moon. The most wonderful combination.

I know that I am not the only one feeling all the feels this time of the year. The holidays aren’t always a cheerful experience for everyone. Some of us may not be celebrating with loved ones, some of us may have just lost a loved one, are thousands of miles/kilometres away from family and friends or choose to break patterns and do things on their own terms this year.

Over the past weeks leading up to Christmas, I have been mourning my childhood memories and that the holidays are no longer the same as they were when my Mama was still alive. It will be the 16th Christmas without her, more winters without than with her for the first time.

With the transition from autumn to winter, I am also grieving old versions of myself that I’ve been slowly releasing, shattered dreams that have fallen apart with the last autumn leaves and fist snowflakes dancing in the air and drifting to the ground. Love and loss come hand in hand I realise over and over again. And yet, full of trust, rocking myself in my own arms and knowing spring will come, the light of the sun will return. For now, I know I am not alone, I know I am my best friend, my own caring mother. And I am exactly where I am meant to be and am so grateful for every moment and how I am able to hold myself through it all. I can trust the dark winter moments that are asking for stillness. No need to do anything, change anything, or force anything.

I’ve been making sure to get enough rest, have nourishing meals at hand, decorate my space bringing nature into my home, and go outside and get sunlight as much as I can. Sitting with a candle, writing for myself. Practising what I preach.

My sanctuary.

My offering for you this season

If you are struggling, I see you, I hear you, I hold you in my heart! If you need some rest, crave a sound bath while being cocooned in blankets.

I have a special gift for you:

From the comfort of my living room to yours!

Needs to be booked before the end of 2023. Only valid for the first 10 bookings. Printable voucher with front and back upon request. Price sliding scale available. We can discuss details to make it work for you - send me an email 💛 P.S. I forgot that most of my readers currency is $ and £. For the sake of everyone’s mental capacity conversion can be rounded up / down.

Winter grief and longing recommendations…

• I loved reading

  Hunter Burgtorf
  ’s recent article on loss and love - Read The Family Storykeeper here. A tender piece of writing.

• A beautiful early Christmas gift to yourself or a loved one!
  There are a million reasons we may need extra holding this time of the year. I got my tickets for the Holiday Grief Circles Christmas Holding by wonderful Nici, founder of The Grief Space. I have done academic research on loss and grief in what feels like a different life in my early 20s and community has always been a fundamental aspect of how people grieve across the globe. All grief is welcome there. These grief circles will be a place to quietly and courageously create space for our grief - both personal and collective. […] a cosy place to land with gentle embodiment practices, meditations and reflections on grief and love through poetry and music. 

• Seven ideas for navigating the festive season.

Winter Love that brings joy

• A wonderful gift for yourself or a loved one. I have turned on paid subscriptions with all money going to charity.

• Symbols: My new piece of jewellery, this sun charm. A reminder of the importance of the night so the sun can return and rise again.

• Making space: Decluttering. Unsubscribing from brand advertisement newsletters or throwing out baking ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for a year. Everything beyond and in between. It. feels. so good. trust me.

• Stories: My fellow German-speaking writer sisters who also grew up in the Alpine region are

  Claudia Wilde
  and
  Eva-Maria Smith
  . If you want to dive into winter wonderland stories from those living abroad and going down memory lane here and there, I recommend reading their recent articles. There are so many other female writers I could recommend but I haven’t been able to read anything over the past few weeks.

• Reconnection with the Self: Feminine movement on YouTube my fellow women’s yoga teacher The Bare Female and Bowspring with Amanda for the most incredible fascia repatterning.

• For cold winter nights: watch one of my favourite humans on the internet talking real talk about trends that she and other interior designers won’t be participating in next year and if you prefer to read

  Lyndsay Kaldor
  and
  Lisa Post
  have some wonderful posts on interiors that are much more gentle than a noisy YouTube video. 🫶

Wintering

My moodboard from my own photo collection as well as Pinterest searches… captures the essence of the season, how I am feeling, and what I am longing for right now. Memories.

Winter Wallpaper

4.98MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Your wallpaper as a PDF - with hyperlinks to the image sources for those that are not my own or from Canva.

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A heartfelt Thank You

Thank you for welcoming me into your inbox, for your trust, and support over the years. This reader community has been growing and counting over 300 wonderful human beings now.

If you’d like to share: How are you feeling about the holidays, what images would you choose to describe your winter experience? And what have been your favourite things that have brought you joy recently? And if you grieve, whatever the reason and feel called to share, how are you holding yourself in loving care?

I look forward to reconnecting with every one of you in the new year. Lots of new things will be coming your way as I will rebrand and refocus, a process that’s been ongoing for the past 6 months. You are always welcome to email me with questions, suggestions, for collaborations or bookings at any time.

Take care, slow down and nourish yourself well over the holidays and remember: saying no to something means saying yes to something else. And vice versa. What no’s and yes’s are needed for you over the coming weeks? 💛

With love and gratitude,