top of page

DOing and BEing

It’s almost Christmas! It’s also the Winter Solstice – a time of longer nights and shorter days, a time of naturally turning inward. Sometimes, those two energies – Christmas (with its festivities) and Winter (with its quiet, more solitude feel) – don’t match up too well.


This mismatch can lead us to feel pushed and pulled in confusing ways. We get contemplative, yet ask ourselves to be around lots of people. We feel the pull to DO lots of things, yet our bodies tend more toward hibernation.


Here’s a thought I’d like to share…

Honoring of the confluence of both of these yearnings allows us to meet our days with more understanding, more boundaries, more health, and more enjoyment. ~Augusta Kantra

So, as you DO all the things that you do, also be aware that taking some time to sit quietly with a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa can answer a natural call to re-center. If you need a break — take it, even if that just means five minutes sitting in your car in silence before you go on to the next store or event.


When you take good care of you, it makes you a whole lot more fun to be around for everyone else!

Some Christmas traditions are a beautiful combination of the DOing and the BEing energies. In our family, one tradition we have is that David reads the girls The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. This steadfast tradition comes from MY dad — he had a significant stutter all his life. He was a physician and had overcome many obstacles. The Christmas before he died (in April of 1983) he conquered his stutter and read all five of his children that story – flawlessly. It was, needless to say, quite a touching and heart-rending moment.


So now, even on the occasional year that things are harried, and even though our girls are grown — we always stop to read. It slows us down. It marks the passing of yet another year. Reminiscing ensues and it provides a pause that punctuates the evening with significance.


David and I know things change and families have to grow and change too, but, for at least for one more year, we have the opportunity to all be together on Christmas Eve. And before that night is done, we’ll stop and David will read The Night Before Christmas to his girls.


However you spend your time this holiday, remember that you won’t get this time again. Smile often. Let go of anything that doesn’t serve you. Be kind. Renew your spirit, gently. Treat you well. Zoom-out occasionally and look at everything as if you were 10,000 feet up – get perspective. Time passes quickly, and once it’s gone…


Wishing you a beautiful merging of DOing and BEing,

Namasté Augusta

bottom of page