The Post-Christmas Void: What Are You Really Trying to Fill?

In the post-Christmas slump, you can spot people desperately looking for something, anything, to occupy their time.

Going to the sales used to be the big pull. People queuing up on Boxing Day morning, even camping overnight, hunting for a bargain. Were there bargains to be had? Sure. But was that really the point?

After the huge build-up to Christmas, what you should have, provide, and give, people are still riding an emotional high. There is a craving to stay there. To feel that you have achieved the perfect Christmas and the perfect year. Pinterest and Instagram do not help with that illusion.

In the quieter in-between days, reality threatens to creep in. Unless, of course, you push it aside with shopping, planning holidays, doing “exciting” things, or collapsing in front of the TV, watching programmes as addictive as the chocolates you have just finished. Comforting. Inoffensive. Forgettable.

Dull. Dull. Dull.

What the Sales Are Really About

Going to the sales is not really about bargains. It is about avoiding the reality of your life.

Sometimes that reality is practical, not having enough money and needing essentials at a reduced price. But increasingly, with cheap clothes and household items everywhere, that is not the main driver.

Sales shopping drops you back into a crowd, a collective emotional field that reflects how you should feel. It is like an emotional magnet. Add to that a deeply materialistic culture. The latest skirt, jeans, TV, handbag. As if it actually matters.

All of this consumes your time and energy so you do not have to sit with the quieter truth. The void. The place where you might feel empty, directionless, unsure what you even want, even if a fairy godmother appeared and offered you one wish.

So Let’s Start There

What do you really want?

One wish for today.
And one wish for future you.

A few gentle rules, because sometimes parameters help.

Your wish cannot hurt others.
It must benefit you personally.

It is easy to wish for world peace or the end of poverty. It is far harder to name your own hopes and desires. Many of us have been quietly programmed out of doing that.

In elemental terms:

Water, our feelings, has been hijacked into outrage and emotional reactivity.
Air, our thoughts and communication, has been narrowed into what is acceptable, shaped by media narratives.
Earth, our resources and sense of belonging, has been destabilised by stories of conflict and scarcity.
Fire, our hope, willpower, and creativity, has been dampened by the message that we must put others first and that we do not have time.

So let us come back to the present moment.

What would you like to happen today that would make a genuine difference?

And what would you like to happen over time, something that would gently but meaningfully change the direction of your life?

I’ll Go First

For today, I would like to take a bath with candles while listening to something interesting. Something simple, but regulating. Calming my nervous system and replenishing my energy so that I have more to give.

Longer term, I would like to finish writing my book and have it published. Not for status, but so I can place it into the hands of people who do not yet know how to listen to and work with the elements within themselves, and who long for more flow and ease in their lives.

Interestingly, the longer-term wish was easier for me. Perhaps that is because I have shaped a lifestyle that genuinely suits me. I still have ups and downs, but they are relatively small.

Peaks, Valleys, and Quiet Spaces

Christmas tends to sit at an extreme, either a high peak or a deep low.

If you are at the top, you want to stay there as effortlessly as possible.
If you are at the bottom, there is, hopefully, only one way to go.

Keeping life ticking along with mostly ups is difficult if you do not understand what creates the fluctuations, and how much influence you actually have over them.

Quiet times give you space to think, reflect, and choose. That can feel frightening, especially if you have spent much of your life following expectations rather than carving your own path.

A Gentle Inventory of Your Life

Take a moment to reflect.

Work. Did you fall into it, or did you follow something you cared about? Loving your work often reflects elemental flow.

Relationships. Do you feel safe, heard, and able to be all of you? Or do you wear masks? Earth, our sense of belonging, and water, our feelings, shape our connections deeply.

Money and possessions. Do you hoard, or spend compulsively? Both can signal imbalance in earth.

Life is always shifting. What feels balanced today may not tomorrow. Elemental balance is not a one-off fix. It is a way of relating to yourself.

With the right framework, you learn to notice imbalance quickly and self-regulate. You integrate knowledge with intuition, heart wisdom, and subtle awareness. Not to dull yourself, but to become more alive.

As attention moves away from material accumulation and toward sensation, meaning, and experience, life becomes luminous. Magical, even.

This is where we are heading, individually and collectively.

If you feel called to explore this more deeply, you are very welcome to begin here.

👉 Take the Elemental Balance Quiz
https://helen-prpya7c1.scoreapp.com

A small first step back to yourself.

Friendship comes with no manuals and often ends in hurt. Being a good friend to yourself elevates the level of friendships that you can cultivate.

Keep your inner spark burning if you want to achieve your potential whilst living in harmony at the same time.

Too much water, air or earth can put out your fire.

Balance is vital.

Inside out and outside in. The four elements remain constant.