A Different Holiday Season

Well here we are - in full blown holiday mode in the world of social media! It’s funny how different the holidays have become since starting this blog. The holidays are always a busy time of year for everyone but over the past few years that’s been quite the understatement as the months of September through December have turned into the most stressful time of the year.

The holiday madness begins months in advance and the number of emails from brands and agencies wanting you to promote their products for the holidays can become incredibly overwhelming for I think both the bloggers and the readers.

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t struggled heavily with the balance of juggling the branded content I enjoy creating but need to produce to support myself with content I love to create just for fun and I think that last year was a big eye opener for me. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate to have a career that allows me to be creative, earn a living and work with some of my favourite companies! I’ve always been very picky with my brand partnerships, only taking on work with brands that I legitimately love but even then, the demands, tight timelines and commitments can be overwhelming. Each year so many timelines seem to be getting shorter and shorter while the wish list in return gets longer and to be honest last year I hit my rock bottom after the holidays.

I’ve spoken a lot this year about the changes I’ve made on this blog, in my personal life, with my health and my lifestyle in general, and this year, the holidays are going to be a lot different on the blog too. As a blogger there’s a lot of pressure to be posting about every sale, every deal, creating a gift guide for every niche possible and promoting SO many products and this year, I plan on going back to doing things my way.

Now don’t get me wrong, there will still be gift guides - but only a few. These are gift guides I’ve had in the works for a long time - a few with a couple of companies that I ADORE, with products I LOVE and use ALL THE TIME that I think you’ll love too. I’ll also be getting back to my tradition (that I sadly missed last year) of sharing my Edmonton Gift Guide and I might have James come back this year to share his gift guide picks again as well. Aside from a few gift guides that really excite me, I plan on sharing more inspiration, more ideas with ways to give back and more feel good holiday content rather than just gift guides and posts trying to encourage you to buy more things.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sale and sharing about my favourite companies with products I think you’ll love but this year, I’m just not feelin’ it anymore the way I have been in years past.

This year I’ve really scaled back in my own home as I try to head in the direction of a more minimalist life. It’s a journey and I’ll never be perfect, but I’m working on it and I realized that this year I only have one gift to buy - ONE!! Most of my family and friends and I have moved away from gifts in favour of enjoying experiences together or giving back to a charity or doing a gift exchange instead and I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made in the holiday stress department.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking anyone who loves giving or receiving gifts but for myself personally, it just doesn’t feel like the right fit anymore to be sharing 20 gift guides when that’s not how I’m living my life anymore. Plus, it seems like more and more people I know are making similar changes in their own lives too! So tell me - are you buying lots of gifts this year, or are you slowly scaling back too? Let me know in the comments below!