Changing Views, Jasmine Gold

How has your view of the holidays changed during your lifetime? Do you have different views of Christmas and giving? Different views of New Year’s? Just like nature, my views are always evolving. The fires have brought another shift for me, just like the field next door has shifted. After the fire  I had a view of a burnt field. Now I have a view of fresh green grass.

A couple weeks after the fires were over, I attended a wedding reception for one of my cousins in the East Bay. She was registered at a high end department store. The closest store is in San Francisco, but I was able to look at her registry on-line. Although I don’t know her very well, I have always known that we have different lifestyles so I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that her registry was entirely expensive china and high end kitchen items. My cousin is in her mid 50’s, has plenty of money, has been married before, and doesn’t need the things in her registry.

In the past, I would have simply bought something from the registry without thinking much about it beyond what I just wrote. After the fires, I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything she had listed. It felt wrong to buy expensive items for someone who doesn’t need them when so many people in Sonoma County have lost everything.

Instead of shopping from her registry, I chose to shop local and support a couple artists at my store. Every time I buy something now, I feel I am more conscious of how and where I am spending my money.  Now, more than ever, it is important to help rebuild the local economy by shopping local. You may think that it was business as usual for the businesses who were not in or near the evacuated areas, but it wasn’t. All of Sonoma County was affected.

At Stones Throw, we had two days with no customers. It took a couple weeks for business to get back to normal. I imagine it was much worse in Santa Rosa where the neighborhoods supporting the surviving businesses have been destroyed. All throughout Sonoma County there are business owners who lost their homes.

If you are one of the many people who are still dealing with stress from the fires, at the beginning of the month we have scheduled a Flock Night with Sunnie Skillman who specializes in PTSD, trauma, and stress relief. Attending this can also help you relieve any stress that the holidays from up for you and help you feel all of the positive aspects of the holiday season.

Over the years, the holiday season has become a season of gratitude for me and a time to reflect on what I want to create in the new year. To go along with that, Songbird now has our annual Gratitude Celebration and New Year’s Eve Psychic Intention Setting Party.

Whether or not you come to any of these events, you can use this time to reflect on your life. What stresses you? What do you need to do to relax? What are you grateful for? Where do you find it difficult to feel gratitude? What intentions do you want to set for the New Year? What blocks you from achieving your intentions? Where do you spend your money? How you can support the local economy?

Let your view of life change just like nature does. If you need support,  we are here to help. Come to one of our special events, on-going classes, or walk-in hours. Perhaps it’s time to treat yourself to a full length private session.