Ya Van a Empezar Las Fiestas / Las Fiestas de Navidad...

...or Reframe Your Holiday Stress with Thanks & Giving!

We survived election night!

Despite some heartbreaks, the wave of women -- including amazing women of color -- heading to congress leaves me hopeful for some much needed change.

Let’s keep up the pressure on our elected officials, so that they work to protect the most vulnerable communities while striving to improve our country for us all.

Ok, now that that's off my chest... anyone else bracing for the upcoming "wave" that is the holidays?

If you're anything like me, you are at once excited and anxious as the holidays approach.

I’m right there with you. ​

Read on to learn about some ways I use Thanks & Giving to help usher in Las Navidades on the right note.

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Se acerca la Navidad / y todos nos va alegrar / el Jibarito cantando aires de felicidad...

For me Las Navidades mean the joys of coquito, pernil, aguinaldos and my husband’s can’t-stop-eating-cause-it’s-so-freaking-delicious apple pie.

But Las Navidades also means being thousands of miles away from my parents, brother, sis-in-law, and nephews; rampant and overwhelming commercialism; and a general feeling of not being able to keep up.

In the face of that ambivalence, I try to harness the power of November and focus on: Thanks & Giving.

This practice helps me get in the right frame of mind in order to fully embrace the joys of Las Navidades while making space to hold those things that are more challenging about the holiday season.

What might you do to help tip the scales towards joy this holiday season?

What are you thankful for and how might you pay that sense of gratitude forward?

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Thanks & Giving: Reframe Your Holiday Stress

• Thanks: Even though we're so far from the fam, I’m grateful for FaceTime.We make great use of it to connect with the familia in NYC & PR during the holidays and throughout the year.
• Giving: I'm going to make time for coloring holiday cards with my little one, so he can get in on the gift giving this holiday season and in that way connect with his cousins.

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• Thanks: Every Thanksgiving I follow in Miami’s footsteps and make large batches of Coquito -- Puerto Rico's famous coconut holiday drink.
• Giving: I gift bottles of Coquito to neighbors and friends throughout the season. I get to connect with Boricua traditions and bring joy to others (and I mean joy -- people LOVE LOVE LOVE coquito). Win. Win. Win.

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• Thanks: I'm beyond thankful for Puerto Rican holiday music! I've already read posts complaining about holiday music, but none of those posts are written by Puerto Ricans. Our holiday music is full of gathering, partying, eating, drinking, and otherwise causing a ruckus -- with the occasional melancholic yearning for la isla for good measure. It’s festive, danceable, singable, and ties Boricuas together across time, space, and generations. What's not to love?
• Giving: I'm bringing you my virtual ¡Parranda! again this year!! Last year, I couldn't bring myself to do my annual virtual parranda, sharing our holiday jams on Facebook each day, knowing that thousands of Puerto Ricans remained without power on the island as the holiday season approached. This year, the virtual parranda is back! To enjoy my ¡Parranda! this holiday season, just Like & Follow my Author Page on Facebook (be sure to click "Following" and choose "See First")! Here's a preview....

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• Thanks: Grateful for a partner who is on the same page when it comes to the holiday giving -- keep it simple sweetheart.
• Giving: In our house we try to keep it somewhat simple and still fun by using this framework to guide our giving for our little one (and for ourselves): Something I want / Something I need / Something to wear / Something to read.
• Bonus: Check out these Letter Templates for Santa and Los Reyes Magos.

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• Thanks: I'm thankful for Holiday Traditions and Holiday Picture Books! I read an article online one year about the holiday tradition of gifting a new holiday book each year and then displaying the growing collection of books at the start of each holiday season. I totally stole that tradition and am loving watching out collection grow!
• Giving: I'm excited to gift our little one new holiday books this season -- one about Kwanza and one about Los Reyes Magos. Stay tuned for a full list of Holiday Picture Book Recommendations next week on the blog.

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• Thanks: Writers!! I’m beyond grateful for my community of writers.
• Giving: One way I show that appreciation is by buying and gifting my writer friends’ books! In fact this year we got the bulk of our holiday shopping done in July. I’ll share that story AND share my list of 2018 Books by Author Friends next week on the blog. Go out and gift your friends’ books — they will thank you for the love!

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• Thanks: I'm thankful for the organizations that helped shape me into who I am and those that help improve the lives of my family, friends, and those who have not been as fortunate as me.
• Giving: It's all about Giving Tuesday ya'll! My husband and I are pretty good about giving to the organizations we care about throughout the year, but on Giving Tuesday we pause and “top off” our annual giving to those orgs that mean the most to us. Later this month I'll share more about the organizations we support and I'll remind/encourage you to give generously to those organizations you believe in most.

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• Thanks: I'm thankful for YOU! I’m so grateful to each and every one of you who read these blog posts, read my poems, essays, books, read and respond to my e-mails (sign up for my newsletter here!). I’m grateful I get to share this writer-life journey with you and to serve you whether you’re a reader, writer, educator, parent, lover of all things Puerto Rican or all of the above. Thanks so much for being mi Comunidad!
• Giving: Here's my holiday offering for you... a November poem. Enjoy!

I <3 LBC

Each New York November, the darkness,
like a Long Beach marine layer at dawn,
rolled into my bedroom uninvited.

I’d consider buying lamps. Thanksgivings
came like a curse. Diaspora makes
for unanswerable yearnings.

Psychological or chemical? Who knows?
But I’d flea the darkness with annual flourish.
Rode JetBlue flights south each New Year.

In Long Beach, November comes
like a kiss. Cool and teasing. A glass
of wine at Art Du Vin.

I hold regular office hours: Portfolios.
Hot Java. Viento y Agua. Lola’s. Coffee Cup.
Makai. Tantulum. I write and read and teach

and dissertate my way through a sunny
winter. This year, my mother-in-law
will host Thanksgiving. It will be warm

like that one November on the island
when he proposed. Diaspora makes
for fearless migrations.

On this new coast, the sun and the ocean
welcome their Caribbean cousin.
The salty air insists: drink your coffee.

Sip that wine. Eat those locally grown
organic fruits, picked yesterday. This year,
she whispers, your darkness will not come.
​

("I <3 LBC" appears in my chapbook Nuyorico, CA)

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May your Navidades be filled with Thanks & Giving!

Abrazos Fuertes Always,

Li Yun

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Before You Go...

• Like & Follow my FB Author Page  (choose "See First") to watch my Virtual Parranda, featuring the best Boricua Holiday Music, starting on Thanksgiving Day.
• I've made some updates to the website and would love if you took a look around. You might want to start with the ABOUT page. Happy exploring!