Crimbo Limbo
…the art of ‘being’ and not wishing time away.
‘Crimbo Limbo’ - the time and space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve where everyone wonders what to do with themselves and starts thinking way too much!
Well hello there all you gorgeous people. How was your Christmas holiday? Ours was a huge amount of fun, but not without its hiccups. More on that later. Since the 21st December I’ve been having a well-earned break. I’ve been either writing consistently on my blog, perpetually feeding the insatiable Instagram beast, or more recently, scribbling my musings on Substack, for over five years. I’ve never taken more than a week off from social media for fear of the dreaded algorithm’s revenge.
With the way 2023 panned out, I was tired. So much happened in my life outside of what you read and see on these platforms that was emotionally draining and very stressful. It was time to let my mind breathe for a week or two. Time to allow the healing balm of free time and care-free sunshine to caress my skin and light up my soul.
But, what about all my paying subscribers? The wonderful people who pitch in for gas so that we may carry on our literary journey. I was going to turn off subscriptions, which would just add two weeks to each member’s plan, so no one would lose out. In the end, I decided I would keep on writing instead. I publish on Sundays, which this year is Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Who’s going to read anything I have to say then? So, I published my Christmas thoughts early on the 21st and today I’m offering up my new year post on the 30th December. I’ll be back to normal Sunday service on 7th January.
This year, as we weren’t hosting and therefore spending Christmas with friends, it was more important than ever to me that I was truly present. Writing, styling and conjuring up joy on social media is a precious thing, but it does steal my life away. There’s always one part of my brain that’s thinking about the Next Big Thing. So, to avoid the tempting vortexual abyss of the Instagram explore page and to allow my weary mind to just ‘be’, I turned it all off.
“Say what? Come again? You did what now?”
“I turned it all off and do you know what? The world didn’t end and I kinda liked it!”
Now, I’m not going to get all high and mighty on Instagram’s arse, as even though it’s an absolute life-sucker and the algorithm is my worst enemy, it’s also one of my main forms of income and allows me to pay my astronomical electricity bill and perhaps have a little holiday every now and again. But, it has been such a joy to not have to be constantly available and eternally chained to my direct message inbox. It has allowed me to just enjoy each moment, make memories and revel in today.
Ever since my lymphoma diagnosis nearly 14 years ago now, I’ve had a supercharged awareness of the world around me. Mindfulness, without its wanky holier than thou connotations, is something that I kind of picked up by accident as I was suddenly faced with my own mortality. The art of just ‘being’ became something I was supremely interested in, even if I often failed in my non-stop crazy life.
Read on to find out how my holiday SWITCH OFF helped me regain my sense of the moment and living life to the full. If you’re currently a free subscriber, or you’ve just stumbled on my little space on here, there’s currently 25% off for life and it’ll never go up as long as you are subscribed.