This week’s guidance from the Ascended Masters, Galactics, Earth Elementals, Faery Elders, Angels, and Archangels known as the Collective:

Greetings, dear ones! We are very pleased to have this moment to speak with you today. 

As so many around the world have now entered a time of what can be Joyful celebration, we wish to encourage you to be particularly kind to yourself now, during what is often a busy and pressured time of year.

Many are feeling the pressure of gift-buying and card-sending now descending upon them, and feeling at times, as many empaths do year-round, that whatever they give, it will not be enough.

We would suggest that there is a form of giving that does not base itself on guesses regarding the other person’s requirements or expectations, and this is a far superior form of giving than what you have been taught.

The kind of giving we refer to has to do with getting quiet and tuning in to the other person’s energies (though not going fully into them), and asking their and your higher self what would be best for you to give to them this season, if anything.

We say “if anything,” because many gifts are a matter of social expectation, tradition, or habit, and carry no real meaning beyond someone fulfilling a particular social role in relation to a particular person or group.

Certainly if you wish to give a gift to a coworker, employee, family member, or friend, you should feel free to do so.

Yet let it come from the heart, and not because “they’ll probably give me something, so I have to give them something . . . ”

As you tune into each person’s energies, ask what would be best for them at this time.

Often a gift certificate is highly welcome, as it leaves the receiver of the gift room to choose something they would prefer.

Yet even that can be offered in a spirit of obligation more than Joyful giving, which only drains your energies, rather than building them up or replenishing them.

It would serve much of humanity, particularly in those wealthier parts of the world, to not buy quite so many holiday decorations, eat quite so much food and sweets, or to feel obligated to attend so many special services, events, and goings-on that are not Joyful or important to one, but simply a matter of family or community expectation.

If you usually observe Christmas, for example, you might prefer to stay quietly at home—taking walks in Nature, weather permitting, and listening to lovely music or reading anything that lifts and inspires you. 

You would then be in keeping far more with the original intent of the holiday than those who go in for the busyness and expenditures of special clothing, special events, and social role fulfillment.

We are aware that many do not consider whether they are celebrating in a way that is meaningful to them.

It is enough for them to use the holiday season as a reason for dressing up, going out with friends or family more often, having more fun, eating more pies and chocolates, and drinking a bit more than usual.

And we would say, if that is a matter of Joyful celebration for them, that is a beautiful part of their path.

Yet for those of energetic sensitivity, that overload of sound, food, drink, being financial over-extended, and seeing children be overwhelmed by too many gifts and too much sugar — it can feel to be too much.

It can be a beautiful and refreshing thing to decide, as so many have, as these higher energies pour into the planet, to give not to those who have a great deal already, but to those who have little to nothing.

This can be gifts of money, clothing, food, or home goods to family or community members who have very little, and to reputable organizations that serve the unhoused and impoverished. 

It can also be a beautiful and refreshing thing to decide to spend the holiday time enjoying Nature—enjoying beauty wherever it is found, such as in calming music, candlelight, very simple decorations, beautiful stories in books or film—without the “hoopla” of what has become known as a highly commercialized form of the season.

It rattles the system to have too much food, allow too many restrictions or demands on one’s time or pocketbook, or to give out of obligation—while often forgetting to add oneself to the list.

So we would encourage you to go inward for a moment, image your holiday time, and ask, What truly matters here?

What am I doing that I feel I must do, and what would I truly love to do?

Who am I in relation to this time of year—what am I really celebrating? 

Can I give myself permission to be quiet now, if I need to do that, and not race about doing this or that, or showing up here or there, if that is not right for me now?

Can I love myself enough to get quiet and ask, “What is most important now?”

Do not hesitate to hear what your higher self and guides are saying to you now—about this next month or so, and about the coming year, which we assure you will offer even more powerfully transforming energy transmissions than 2019 has offered you.

For those unfamiliar with hearing their Spirit team’s voice, simple muscle testing will reap you an answer to a a Yes or No question, if you will allow yourself the opportunity to ask, and to trust the answers you are given.

If you are new to muscle testing, start out with simple questions you already know the answers to, and build up to more meaningful ones that you do not yet know the answers to, once your confidence in muscle testing (or using a pendulum) increases.

We do not of course mean to discourage gift-giving to loved ones, when it is truly from the heart, and truly something those persons will happily use or cherish.

We would suggest only that you require that Joy be a part of this and every process in your life, as often as possible.

Remember to rest as needed, for you are in the thick of exponential growth, amazing forward movement, and utterly beautiful transformation—more and more, every hour.

Namaste, dear ones! You are never alone.