We all love holiday recipes. Gingerbread men, homemade eggnog, hot apple pie. Recipes help us get to the heart of things and turn rough ingredients into beautiful, delicious food. This year, we may need more than a couple of creative recipes to make our holidays more awesome. We need a recipe that leads us to each other.
Every year, each one of us looks forward to the holidays. Changing leaves, cool breezes, quietly falling snow, colorful lights, hot cocoa by the fire, drinking eggnog, mulling cider, exchanging gifts, holiday parties and spending time with the family all rank high on our lists of holiday favorites. This year, things are looking a little different, and I’m right there with you. We’re looking for ways to enjoy our holidays the same as years past, and if there’s anything that Thanksgiving shouldn’t be, it’s challenging.
Make More Awesome
What do I mean when I say Make More Awesome? How do you make anything awesome—especially the holidays—when we’re so disjointed? Where are the carols, the holiday parties, the get togethers, the dinners, the games, the movie nights? How do I Make More Awesome when the world feels like it’s falling apart, and the holidays seem like a footnote and night a bright point?
Here’s my recipe for how to Make More Awesome during the holidays:
- Add 1 Cup Soulful Abundance
- Add 4 Tbsp Empathy
- A dash of Positivity
- Shape your Special Moments
- Spread Love
- 1 large Virtual Holiday Party
- Optional: Eat as many cookies and drink as much cocoa as possible
- What is this key ingredient? Soulful Abundance is about centering yourself, finding your point of reflection and meditation, and being happy with who you are and where you are. If you can be happy and joyful during the holidays, everyone around you will follow—especially your family.
- Add in that empathy and care (as much as needed really). Or, as I call it, Make Awesome For Others. Adding in a dash of MAFO means your holidays will be brighter and more cheerful when you know that your loved ones are happy and cared for.
- Add a dash of positivity. It’s the holidays! Things are challenging, but how I look at it is that we still get to spend time with those we love in some form. You may have to be creative!
- Shape your special moments. There are still ways to do what we love this holiday. Social distance caroling. Netflix Party holiday movie nights. Baking. Celebrating.
- Spread the love. Call your friends and family—every day if you have to!—and spread that joy and love around. Make them know they’re thought of and cared for, even if you can’t be together right now.
- Finally, have one big holiday party. This step might seem impossible right now, but CityHUNT has crafted a Virtual Holiday Party that rivals the real thing. This perfect virtual get together is the distillation of festive celebration, relying on years of party experience to put together an awesome “Best Of” collection of holiday games.
I think the holidays should be spent together with those we love. Even if we can’t have that in the way we want right now, I’m hoping the steps of this recipe can at least brighten your day and fill your halls with holiday cheer. With the holidays just around the corner, and the world in a constant state of uncertainty, now’s the time to gather in the festive spirit of the holidays for some fun in that good old fashioned way.
Ben Hoffman.