The holiday season is often portrayed as joyful and full—but for many, it brings mixed emotions, exhaustion, and quiet grief. This reflective article offers a compassionate perspective on navigating Christmas when it feels heavy, inviting readers to honour their real experience, tend to their nervous system, and move through winter with gentleness rather than pressure.

What does it mean to hold a boundary? When most of us think of boundaries, we picture a firm, unwavering line — a property fence, a set of rules, a series of “no”s. Boundaries, in the popular imagination, often appear inflexible. But what if boundaries are not static fences but rather dynamic points of engagement? What if we think of them not as fixed lines in the sand, but as living, breathing guides that shift with context and circumstance?