Hello friends,
I woke up this morning with a mind full of thoughts. One of them landed gently on my pages:
“December arrives with a quiet invitation to soften, to melt into a slower rhythm within yourself.”
This month arrives with holiday lights, full calendars, gatherings, expectations, and urgency, and yet, beneath all of it, December is your end-of-the-year test.
A test to see if you really learned what you talked about on and off throughout the last eleven months. The test? Can you prioritize yourself over shopping, parties, and the rush of the season? It’s like a whisper:
Is your peace a vow you keep or something the world can still negotiate away, insisting on urgency and perfection?
Stillness is not a task you must complete; it is a way of being with yourself. A soft inner space where the breath settles, the nervous system unwinds, and your inner wisdom becomes audible again.
This week, my Christmas tree fell over, breaking many of the ornaments I had collected over the years. I didn’t react. I finished my dinner, cleaned up the mess, as my husband worried about drying the water on the old floors from 1896. I saved the ornaments that survived the fall, and I didn’t rush to put the tree together again. I took it as a sign.
The Stillness Project
The Stillness Project is simply an intention to welcome stillness without rush, guilt, or discomfort. Many of us were taught that quietness is laziness, but our hearts know differently.
I call it the Still Project because it reminds me of the late nights I arrived home from work to find my daughter had forgotten the school project due the next morning. We forget things… but they are still due.
You can participate in the Stillness Project by taking three meaningful breaths daily, by taking longer showers, by not becoming vigilant of the food cooking on the stove, by sipping herbal teas for the warmth of the cup, or by embracing the winter by the fire, which can be the AP test for a Brazilian. The good news is that there is no grade. You get an A+ for participating on the days you remember.
May this December become your sanctuary of presence, where even a few pauses bring clarity, gratitude, and the small miracles only stillness reveals.
I hope you join The Stillness Project. Your presence adds warmth to our world community. May your body rest, your spirit exhale, and may stillness find you exactly where you are.
With peace,
Ana
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