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This year, suffice to say, has been a challenge for the entire world. First and foremost, do what you can to help your family, friends and community. Small acts of kindness have a ripple effect. Kindness matters and no act of kindness is ever wasted, so do your part in helping those around you. Beyond your immediate community, consider how your broader community is doing – on the state level as well. The US, where I reside, has clearly been dealing with a tremendous challenge in navigating COVID-19 and continuing to be considerate of the needs of the broader communities which comprise your state is critical. For example, I live in California. The way in which California is impacted by COVID is shocking and not the only issue that has deeply affected this state in recent months, so being cognizant of your broader community means you are best equipped to be safe (and ensuring the safety of others) this holiday season.

California was devastated by wildfires this past summer and it goes without saying that those who lost their homes are still severely impacted by the crisis. Please contribute what you can to locally based charities which assist those who need it most. For victims of the California wildfires, the Red Cross of the Bay Area is a great place to start in providing much needed relief for those who are grappling with such significant losses. It’s tough to absorb the scale of losses when COVID has already impacted so many people’s livelihoods; it’s even more challenging for those who need this kind of immediate assistance with regard to housing instability. Furthermore, food banks are stretched to the limit as food security is nowhere near the level it should be during this time. Please consider donating to your local food bank as well.

Given what a toll this year has taken on all of us, looking inward, seeking joy in simplicity and focusing on the wellbeing of the spirit are necessary to ensuring that we all stay well. This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is focused on products which contribute some form of simple joy to your loved ones and is centered around the wellness of mind, body, and spirit. It’s as simple as having a nice brush for your hair etc. that can make a difference in your day sometimes. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that simple joys are essential for wellness.

Books

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Grooming

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The Wet Brush Pro Series is an adult oriented hair brush with Disney Princess art on them. These are certainly cute in design and are high performing brushes at an affordable price tag (think the Mason Pearson brush without the Mason Pearson price tag). You can find this limited edition Disney version of The Wet Brush at Ulta.

Pearl Bath Bombs has a dual pack of bath bomb products named “Poppin’ Bubbles in the Tub” which makes a fun gift for your friend or family member. Each bath bomb has a nice cocktail ring (pick the right ring size!) and a chance at winning a real diamond ring; each ring comes with a code to check on the website if you won.

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Besame Cosmetics limited edition Cold Cream is the newest product to wow the Besame brand’s fan base! For the vintage history lover, all of the products created by this fabulous beauty brand based out of Los Angeles are historically accurate. Besame is well known for their lipsticks, rated by Vogue and Real Simple this year as the best red lipstick (all of their lipstick shades are exact matches to the decade you love; for example, the exact shade of red that Marilyn Monroe wore in the 1950s). Now you can take off that red lipstick using Besame’s fantastic cold cream!

Aveda has a BCRF edition of their classic hand relief Cherry Almond Hand Cream which is a cult favorite and it will keep your hands smelling nice and super moisturized. The proceeds also go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation which makes this product a wise choice.

Home

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Raw Crystals for decoration and good spirit by KORA Organics in Clear Quartz and Rose Quartz are a wonderful edition to any room. These are great for decoration, but you can also actively integrate these crystals into your meditation practice! You can sit with a particular crystal and think about how that energy is representative of your meditation’s intention (for example, the pink glow to the rose quartz evokes an intention of love and gratitude).

West Elm’s Faux Fur Cascade Throws are exactly what can get you in the holiday mood! “Santa Baby, just slip a sable under the tree for me!” is exactly the vibe these throws give off. Make sure to get this throw before they run out – they are on sale!

CB2 has a pillow that is based off of the famous Herve Leger bandage dress… and it’s called the Leger pillow. If you want to indulge, this pillow has a fun texture to it and it’s also a good reminder that maybe someday we might fit back into our Leger style dresses for those events in the future…

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Last but not least… a simple, yet classic complementary gift that might be for your office’s Secret Santa gift exchange (obviously by mail this year!) and you aren’t quite sure what to get to complement another gift to tie it all together, you can’t go wrong with Punch Studio’s Winter Greens Boxed Soap, only $6.50.

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So often, it seems that we can be so unsure (and also widely philosophize) what the grander “why” is to our lives. What is our life’s purpose? People sometimes dive deep into their religious faiths as a result of trying to answer this question or perhaps they turn to a more nihilistic view that life itself has no purpose, it is ‘just life.’ I think this is obviously a highly complex topic since the life experience we all have weaves together the idea of our personal autonomy (the individual’s choice to decide what their ‘purpose’ may be) with a broader discourse related to the science of space consciousness and how this ties into the realm of the personal, microcosm experience of the universe that we have within ourselves. Our purpose is quite simple to understand once you awaken to space consciousness.

I recently started reading Eckhart Tolle and came to understand this concept of ‘awakening’ that he references for humanity. On an individual level of the spiritual awakening we may have and then on a collective large scale global consciousness (which he speaks of how it’s already happening to humans on our planet). Eckhart references this collective awakening as a consciousness which transcends our personal form in order to understand the space that consciousness allows us to connect with on a collective plane and hence connects us with our personal experience of ‘purpose.’

Our life’s purpose is being one with the collective consciousness of Being. It goes beyond thought, you are aware of your consciousness, you find deep inner peace this way, and thus are capable of spreading joy to others. This is life’s purpose and there is a technique to share your space consciousness awakening with others. You may think the concept of ‘purpose’ is highly individual, but in reality, the concept of purpose is this, for all of us, always:

• Your life’s purpose is to merge together your awareness of space consciousness which does not include thinking, it is BEING (breathing…. breath… ATMAN… one with God…) by merging your being together with your form and bodily experience, the outer, everyday experiences that you have. Once merged by your awakening, you then generate a deep sense of peace and therefore can spread joy in the lives of others by accepting the reality that our form is not the entirety of our life. We can spiritually dissociate from all of the trappings of ourselves and therefore we can achieve deep inner peace.

• When this change happens within you, you are spiritually awakened and you will no longer feel confined to the restrictions our immediate experience can hold over us. If you believe in the teachings of Christ, you will understand that Christ lived a life which was not ‘of his own’ because he connected with a community of many souls to be one with it.

• When we solely connect only to our form and our ego, we are creating spiritual blindness in ourselves – we are not recognizing the deep inner power that space consciousness provides us in connecting with the purpose of BEING.

• I Am. I Am. I Am.

• You are. You are. You are.

• We are. We are. We are.

• We are one. We are one. We are one.

In this way, when you speak these words, you recognize that the ego is a fabrication of the mind. We are all one spirit. We are all together on this Earth. We are all part of the human race. We are all a connected, living entity. We are conscious. We are consciousness. Now, our purpose: awaken and awaken others to this. Like a rose that is in bloom, open to your life’s purpose and share this beauty with others.