Ho! Ho! Ho! Bah Humbug!

DoVClub:2 - December 2020
Ho! Ho! Ho! Bah Humbug!

I often ask people to strike up a conversation, "Are you ready for the holidays? " I often get an answer yes with a hesitant but... or a straightforward no I'm not ready for the holidays! Bah Humbug!
 
The plan in motion is to adjust to a new normal of the Covid-19 Pandemic Holiday Season. As we sit at the Thankful Thanksgiving table, transitioning into the Giving Christmas Season, and onto New Year's Day 2021, what will our social gatherings look like? How will we celebrate these events? Indeed Covid-19 Pandemic has put a new spin on traditional holiday gatherings, and instead of social gatherings, we're going virtual to zoom gatherings. 
 
In moving forward with the new changes of being safe due to Covid-19, these precautions can put a damper on our moods. When the Winter Season approach, many people experience their moods drifting into a downward spiral of the "Moody Blues"(also called "winter blues"). People experience brief mood changes as the seasons begin and end. They may start to feel "blase'" in the Fall Season when the days are shorter and the nights are longer, and the holiday season moves fast upon us in a twinkling of an eye.
 
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression, due to seasonal changes that effects one's thoughts, feelings and daily activities. Although SAD typically happens around the Fall season, it goes away during the Spring and Summer seasons.
 
For winter-pattern SAD, additional specific symptoms may include:
Oversleeping (hypersomnia)
Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates
Weight gain
Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)
 
As the celebrations begin, let's take note of our Holiday Checklist for the 2021 New Year count down during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
1. Stay in gratitude
2. Celebrate in the moment
3. Remember there is always another way...
4. Mind your Mood 
5. Love on your family and friends
 
With the hope of ending the 2020 year on a good note, Let the Bah Humbug turn into Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Also put the Holiday Checklist in action and repeat.

DoV's Upcoming Virtual Sessions

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy has been around for centuries in Egypt, Asia, and Indian culture. Aromatherapy is formulated into many forms such as oils, plants, and natural balms. This holistic remedy is known for religious purposes and medical intervention to treat various conditions.

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DoV's Spotlight Honors

Dr. Heard presents a 327G, story focused of Hazel Pensing an Astronaut for the World Wide Aerospace Program (WWAP) and Physician, has return to earth with a specimen extracted from the surface of the planet Mars that cures human terminal diseases! Dr. Pensing’s determination to save human lives, and prove her data findings to her opposition or other scientists of the WWAP, could ultimately be her demise or her or heroism.
 
Dr. M.P. Heard served as an educator for more than a dozen years with LAUSD, the Los Angeles, California public school system. She graduated from the University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education, with a doctorate in Educational Leadership. A lifelong outer space enthusiast, she has always enjoyed learning about manned spaceflights, 327G is her first novel.

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Celebrating Kwanzaa

According to Ibewue, Kwanzaa is a weeklong cultural celebration, highlighting family, friends, and community, has only been around since 1966. During the Civil Rights Movement, Kwanzaa founder Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., now a professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, was determined to find a way to bring the African American community together to persevere through hardship. Thus, the holiday was born.
 
As this event is relatively new in our history Ibewue points out, Kwanzaa is observed by millions of Black Americans in the United States and spans from December 26-January 1. Each day of the week is meant to represent one of the seven core principles of the holiday. The most observant Kwanzaa tradition is lighting the seven candles on the Kinara for every day of each principle. Although the event may seem different due to the Pandemic, you can still enjoy celebrating this important event with family and friends.

As we end the 2020 year, we can all agree we were horrified by the events taken place throughout the year! To list all of the shocking events in 2020, is reliving the devastating events all over again! Through it all, we were resilient and kept the faith we were going to survive and we did! As we celebrate Christmas our Lord and Savior's birth let's stay in a mindset of gratitude. We know God is in control of everything. As we end the 2020 year, let's keep in perspective we cannot change the past, but we can move forward with our lives and enjoy the journey given to us. Next stop 2021, here we come!