Thursday reflections on what December companionship actually means, and who it’s really for.

After last week’s newsletter/blog about my December offering, I got responses that made me realize I’d led with the chaos when I should have led with the nuance.

Several of you asked variations of: “Is this for me if I don’t have terrible family dynamics?” and “I’m mostly solo this December, so would this still work?” and “My mom won’t be with us this year, does that change things?”

And I realized I’d made it sound like crisis intervention when it’s actually something quieter for people who don’t need rescuing but would welcome companionship through a season that’s more complex than it looks from the outside. Turns out I may have oversold the drama and undersold the depth.

What I got wrong

I focused too heavily on the dramatic December scenarios like the family gatherings where you regress, the triggering relatives and friends, and sometimes the performance pressure at work parties.

But I know a lot of you don’t have those situations. Instead, you might be self-employed or retired, so there’s no office party. You’re doing December mostly solo, or with smaller, quieter gatherings. Your family dynamics might actually be fine or nonexistent because the people you’d gather with aren’t here anymore.

And yet December can still land heavy, if not differently, because a quieter December doesn’t mean an easier one. 

The December nobody talks about

There’s a version of December that doesn’t fit the cultural narrative. It’s not surviving toxic relatives or managing overwhelming schedules as much as the nostalgia that shows up uninvited when you’re decorating alone, remembering all the Decembers when your mom was here to help, or your dad made his terrible jokes, or your partner was criticizing, or your kids were small enough to believe in magic.

It can be the strange grief of missing people who are gone, mixed with the odd relief of not having to perform for anyone.

For some, it’s the creative energy that wants space to happen but gets drowned out by obligation, even when the obligations are self-imposed.

And for sure, there are moments when December feels beautiful and lonely in the same breath,and you don’t have anyone who wants to sit in that contradiction with you. 

Not to mention, the complexity of being accomplished, self-aware, and capable, and still not wanting to go through this season entirely alone in your head.

What this actually is

After those ‘hit replies’ came in, I went back and looked at what I’d created, and I realized that this really isn’t crisis management as much as companionship.

It’s for people who process things deeply and feel the layers underneath the surface. People who can hold contradiction and nuance and don’t need things simplified or fixed.

It’s having someone available when those complex moments arrive, knowing they aren’t emergencies but still need witnessing. When nostalgia hits and you want to share it with someone who won’t rush you past it. When you’re making a decision about how to spend Christmas Day and you need a sounding board who understands your actual values, not cultural expectations. When something beautiful and sad happens simultaneously and you need someone who can hold both without trying to resolve the tension.

This is what I do. I help people process the bigger, deeper, complex things as they come up. I help them stay present with them instead of pushing them away or handling them alone.

Who this is actually for

After last week’s responses, I can say more clearly that this is for you if December brings up things that are hard to put a finger on. If you’re doing it mostly solo and would welcome companionship. If your family situation is fine, but still activating in subtle ways. If the people you’d want to process with aren’t available, or aren’t here anymore.

It’s for accomplished people, meaning women, men, artists, entrepreneurs, anyone who’s highly capable and wants to stay that way through December instead of just white-knuckling through it.

You don’t need to be in crisis to want companionship. You don’t need terrible family dynamics to benefit from having someone who can help you decode why a particular moment landed the way it did.

You just need to be someone who processes deeply, feels the complexity, and doesn’t want to go through this season without that support.

What actually happens

From December 1st through January 4th, you have access to me via text and email. When something comes up like a memory, a decision, or a moment that feels layered, reach out. I’m actively present every day, responding quickly so you’re not left sitting with it alone, because the point is companionship in real-time.

I send you weekly frameworks for what’s probably moving, but the real work happens between us. In the processing of what’s actually coming up for you, not what “should” be.

It’s having someone who can sit with the full range of what December brings, whether that’s the beauty, the grief, the nostalgia, the complexity, the contradiction, all of it – without needing to simplify any of it.

If this lands differently now…

If last week’s newsletter didn’t quite fit but this one does, and you’re recognizing yourself in the quieter, more nuanced December I’m describing, you might not need crisis intervention, but you might welcome conscious companionship. Someone who gets that accomplished, capable people still benefit from not processing everything alone.

December starts in 11 days. Mercury goes direct in 9. The reconsideration window is closing.

If you want companionship through the season that’s more complex than it looks, ask me for the full details.