Princess Sassy Pants & Co.™

We hosted a holiday dinner party this weekend, and I’m pooped. I slept off and on all day yesterday, and today is looking like another jammies-all-day day.

Before the pandemic, we held a big holiday party every year at a local restaurant. I thought I’d do a smaller version at our house this year, thinking it would be less work. I was wrong. Oopsie.

My plan for the rest of the holiday season is to make very few plans. We have dinner with friends on Christmas Eve and are hosting a dinner at a local restaurant at the end of the month to celebrate our anniversary. That’s it.

It’s just the hubs and I on Christmas Day this year. It might be a good day for Chinese carry-out.

Read Full Post »

We are never alone and cannot be apart–no matter how it might look. So many of those I love have passed. My mother died when I was thirteen, so I’ve had to begin to come to terms with the idea of loss at a very young age.

After my father passed away some years later, I began to see these relationships don’t end; they just change form. The morning after he passed, I awoke to a feeling within me that took me a minute to identify; It was him communicating with me.

It’s hard to describe what this is like for me. It’s not really a voice; I feel impressions that are unmistakable and very clear. He continued to “talk” to me off and on for years.

He told me that although he understood that I felt sad. He said that these feelings didn’t make me wrong, but they did interfere with his ability to communicate with me. To feel sad, I would have to believe he was gone and he wasn’t, so the grief was a denial of what is really true. He was still with me; it just looked different than what I was used to.

When we acknowledge the truth, we begin to become more aware of it, and the truth is that we cannot ever be apart…not ever.

Read Full Post »

Look for the miracles and magic that are all around today. I know this can seem cliche, but there’s truth to this. Acknowledge Love’s presence in everything, and your heart will begin to be filled with joy from the littlest things to the biggest.
.
There’s an exercise that I often do: I look around slowly wherever I might be and let my eyes rest for a moment on the things in my view. I lay aside my ideas of what is better or more beautiful and what is bad or good. I just calmly move from one thing to another as I think to myself, “Love is in everything I see.”

Right now, I see a vase with flowers, a clock, some candles, a television screen, and some twinkle lights. But I also see a tiny reflection of light in a piece of metal, smudges on my laptop screen, and my fingers hitting the keyboard. “Love is in everything I see.”

I won’t tell you what I experience when I do this, as words are just too small to describe it. I’ll let you find out for yourself.

Love is in everything we see–whether we see it or not.

Read Full Post »

Gratitude is like twinkle lights guaranteed to light any and all darkness. I know it can be challenging to really feel a sense of appreciation sometimes, but we don’t have to feel grateful for difficulties; we need only find the feeling of gratitude in the midst of them.

There was a time when I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from, and I would sometimes become terrified. This is when I would hit the road on what I called gratitude walks. I would walk as long and as far as needed, giving thanks for anything and everything I could think of until tears spilled out of my little eyeballs. I had to be determined, though. It was up to me to turn in that direction.

You simply cannot feel grateful and afraid or angry or sad at the same time. They are like light and darkness; where one is, the other cannot exist.

Read Full Post »

I can’t believe I once thought I had to “have it all together” in order to shine my light. Thankfully, this isn’t true at all.

In fact, sometimes we can be of more help and a greater inspiration when we share just how tangled we are and that even in the mess, we have learned how to shine anyway.

Even in my yoga practice, I am not as inspired by those who have been bending like pretzels since they were children and are trained dancers and gymnasts. It’s those who started out stiff (like many of us) and worked, fell down, got back up, worked some more, and slowly went beyond what they thought were their limitations.

We are all meant to let our inner twinkle lights shine. They’re beautiful…even when they’re a tangled mess.

Read Full Post »

It’s okay if you can’t find your jingle and your twinkle gets a little tangled sometimes.

Read Full Post »

A few lessons from a Christmas tree:
🌲
Twinkle
🌲
Share your gifts
🌲
Bring joy to others.
🌲
Be a light in the darkness.
🌲
We all fall over sometimes.
🌲
You were born to sparkle…even in your garland’s a little droopy.
🌲
It’s okay to be a little tilted.

I really need to rest my droopy garland, just enjoy my twinkle lights, read, and reflect. I wish I could do a Jammies-All-Day, day. Maybe tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

Christmas is usually my favorite time of year; it’s one of the reasons I keep PSP&Co going. I usually love posting this time of year. This year, I’ve been struggling to find my inner Christmas.

Then it occurred to me: The true spirit of Christmas is love, and the spirit of love is giving. It’s in giving that we feel most alive and joy-filled.

I immediately got busy creating some new illustrations and jotting down notes as I do when I work on new posts and started to feel a little stirring inside.

I got quiet and listened within regularly while I was working, as it’s always my wish, not that Jane’s voice be heard, but that the light we all share shines through.

As I did this…nothing, nothing, nothing…and then a flash of inspiration and the uplifting feeling that comes with that. This post is one of the results.

If you’re feeling crappy and not very Christmasy, find a way to give and share.

Read Full Post »

Let’s be a little kinder to everyone today…Remember to include yourself.

I want to be determined to see through the eyes of love today. This way, kindness comes naturally and effortlessly. If I feel annoyed, I will pause for a moment and remember that this is what I really want.

I may not fully succeed, but I know this is the right direction, so where I might fail, I will simply try again.

Join me? Together, we can light the world.

Read Full Post »