Hope After The Holidaze: Keep the Tinsel Leave the Trauma
So, here we are. The tinsel is looking a little ragged, the leftovers are starting to look more like science projects in the back of the fridge (hello, ADHD!), and that relentless Chrismas Songs Spotify playlist has finally run it's last loop. You made it! You showed up for twelve days of holding space for the messy, glitter-strewn, painful and sacred machinery of the holidays. Get yourself a cookie!
If this series has resonated with you in any way, or if you felt seen over the past twelve days, I really want to remind you that this is not about highlighting the broken pieces. It's about having the courage to allow the parts of you that have been silenced by trauma, dogma, coercion, abuse, and performance to finally have a seat at the table of your life. We have explored the ways that your dread, your grief, your anger, the urge to peace the fuck out before they cut the ham, are all valid, protective responses that your complex nervous system has used to help you survive the chaos of the holiday season. They were intelligent, creative, and sometimes downright brilliant adaptations to environments that asked too much of you.
Your Body's Wisdom Isn't Seasonal
This guide wasn't about pretending that your home was some winter wonderland out of Gilmore Girls. It was about acknowledging the coal-coated truth and letting you own the truth of your reality. We are no longer interested in making your pain more palatable to dysfunctional systems that refuse to honor it. We are carving out space for you to be more embodied and authentic no matter the season. Even if that means creating new rituals and holiday traditions all on your own.
Together we have spent the last two-ish weeks translating your body's distress signals, honoring your anxieties, numbness, rage and disappointment. We have named the games that we never meant to play (hello, gaslighting, role regression, having to choose between attachment and authenticity). We have validated the profound loss that we have had to face when we acknowledge the gaping disparity between the holidays we got and the holidays we deserved. We even found ways to identify the difference between a sacred tradition and a sugar-coated trap. All of these beautiful explorations have been lessons in reconnecting with your intuition, and rebuilding trust with the one person in your life who matters most... Yourself.
Your Healing Journey is a Slow-Burn Indie Film, Not a Christmas Special
At the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas there's a sobering, simple moment. After all the chaos, the wild ups and downs, the journey comes to an endearing end but the Whos down in Whoville never get their presents back. What changes is that they realize their joy wasn't stored in the boxes and bows; it was in their connection. Their singing is an act of defiant, communal truth.
Your healing is similar. The "presents" you didn't get like safety, respect, and unconditional love, might not magically appear under the Christmas tree. The people who caused harm may not have a change of heart.
The miracle isn't in the return of what was taken.
It's in the discovery of what was inside you all along: the fierce loyalty to your own truth, the capacity to build a "quiet home" within yourself, and the right to define what's sacred for you.
This isn't a plot that wraps up in 90 minutes with a sleigh ride into the credits. This is the beautiful, gritty, often nonlinear (looking at you Christopher Nolan) indie film where you are the protagonist, director, and cinematographer. Some scenes are hard. Some are quiet and sweet. The arc isn't about perfection, it's about integration.
A Gentle Pep Talk
Let’s be clear: healing isn't a one-and-done holiday special where everything is resolved by New Year’s Day. Some days in March will feel like a victory lap. Then, some random Tuesday in October might knock the shit out of you. Life do be lifin' all year round. This doesn’t mean you aren't making progress. It means you’re a silly little human in a cluterfucky world.
When that random Tuesday in October hits, you can treat yourself with the same compassion we’ve practiced here. Notice the wave, drop into the sensations in your body, attune to yourself like a loving friend, and ride the wave until it dissolves within you, and your feet find the shore again.
"Baggage" Re-Calimed
The insights you’ve gathered over these twelve days are with you as you move into this next chapter. Think of them as the ultimate, slightly unconventional stocking stuffers for your future self.
That boundary that felt scary but necessary? Pack it up!
The somatic trick that quieted your panic during a video call? Tuck that away in your pocket for later.
The permission slip to grieve what you never received? That’s always yours.
Your job now isn’t to do more work, but to notice which tools felt like a relief, and practice reaching for them throughout the year. Notice how it feels in your body when you connect with those tools and learn to redefine your relationship with yourself in those moments. You are in the process of becoming the person you have always needed in your life. Every time you honor those boundaries, your needs, and offer compassion and patience to your mind and your body, you nurture that relationship.
Your Next Step (If You Want One)
This work doesn't end when the tree comes down. If this series felt like a lifeline and you're ready to build a life where this understanding is your foundation, I'm here.
My door is open for those who are done just surviving their story and are ready to start rewriting it. We can work on making the peace you carved out this season a permanent, lived-in reality.
If you're ready to build that life, let's talk.
Click here to schedule your free 20-minute consultation. You deserve a peace that lasts all year.
This concludes the 12-Day Tinsel & Trauma Holidaze Survival Guide. Thank you for being here, for your courage, and for doing your work. However you move forward, may it be with more compassion, more clarity, and more power than you arrived with.