So here I am, Alone at Christmas, Again!
Oh NO! It’s THAT time again!
Bring on January As December creeps closer I often find myself wishing I could wake up on the right side of January, the following year and avoid the festive season emotional roller coaster altogether. Since moving back to South Australia, I’ve had my moments during Christmas lunches when I’ve felt like the charity case, a bit like the ‘sad old aunty Nelly who never married or had kids’ typecasts you see in those annoyingly happy Disney Christmas movies. I’ve sat around the family Christmas table smiling on the outside while singing inwardly to myself ‘how did I get here’ in perfect harmony with David Byrnes. If I’m perfectly honest, as I wander further down the road of life, Christmas is a season I can take or leave, but I have also become very aware that I am in the fortunate position to be able to choose.
Reaching out to others contributes to my feelings of gratitude I currently rent a unit while I wait to move to my new coastal home, and find myself living with elderly women neighbours. One is a Malaysian woman in her seventies who has not seen her family, including her 98 year old mother since the start of the pandemic. I asked her how she was coping and she mentioned that she felt her mind wasn’t working so well any more. Listening to her story, I found myself feeling both grateful for my life and a deep sense of compassion for people who find themselves a long way from home and loved ones this Christmas.
Counting my blessings This year as I prepare to host Christmas, I find myself ‘counting my blessings’ and reflecting on my good fortune in what has been a challenging time for so many people. I am blessed with the support of an extended family. We’re a bit of a motley crew, but we are always there for each other when it counts. I have lifelong friends, locally, interstate and overseas who really ‘get me’ and whom I can join for Christmas whenever I wish, once we can start travelling again.
Be brave, say yes and connect! This Christmas, I’m saying yes more often, to the opportunities that come my way to connect and give back. Looking out for my neighbours, connecting with women from the Women’s Village for our Christmas Picnic and welcoming visitors to my new home. If you’re alone this Christmas, how might you connect with others? Be brave, peep over the fence and say hi to your neighbours? I dare you! Or perhaps reach out to a charity organisation and possibly offer to lend a hand? You just might make some new friends in the process. Merry Christmas.
Sonia Olsen
Image: Getty Images |
You deserve to be nurtured the way you nurture others
The members of our Virtual Women’s Village know what it’s like to be apart of a truly safe, loving and nurturing sisterhood.
Every day, women are re-claiming their lives piece by piece to remember who they really are, before they got crazy busy and lost in the never ending ‘to-do’ lists and demands of ‘life’.
What are you yearning for? What’s that something ‘more’ that’s nagging deep inside you?
We all have access to this knowing, but often we need a little support to find it. Reach out, take our hand and let’s find out together.