5 Yung Pueblo Poems to Encourage A Peaceful Holiday Season
The holiday season is here, and with it comes excitement, anticipation, and, yes, even stress. Sometimes we can get wrapped up in spending money for gift-giving celebrations like Christmas—and while this is a wonderful way to show others we care, it can also put tons of pressure on our budgets. It’s important to remember that one of the greatest gifts of the holidays is enjoying time with our friends, families, and loved ones.
During this holiday season, and amidst the ongoing pandemic, many are searching for peace within the storm. Yung Pueblo, a poet, speaker, and meditation leader, brings people together with readings, talks, and insights from his book, Inward. His daily Instagram Stories remind readers to search for true happiness within themselves instead of their wallets. These five poems will encourage us to have a more peaceful and relaxing holiday season, and that’s a priceless gift we can give to ourselves and our loved ones.
allow yourself to transform
as many times as you need
to be fully happy and free
Happiness can be reached through healing the body and mind, and this is a journey that doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you are healing from trauma, past wounds, or even Covid-19. Healing is a process, so patience is important. Transformation happens gradually, and we can change as many times as we need in order to reach a more blissful state of being.
Yung Pueblo also reminds us that transforming ourselves through yoga, meditation, and therapeutic writing can lead us to true happiness, but this version of ourselves doesn’t have to be fixed, as our lives and minds are always changing. In the words of the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu, “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
two of the greatest lessons humanity
will learn in the 21st century will be:
to harm another is to harm oneself
when you heal yourself, you heal the world
Most people we know wouldn’t purposely hurt another person, but we may be carrying judgment, anger, or negative emotions if someone hurts us. While it’s not easy to let go of negative feelings, through journaling and poetry we can release these feelings. If we use our negative emotions as fuel for our poetry, we will feel lighter and freer.
The second part of this lesson from Yung Pueblo is that we have the ability to heal the world by healing ourselves. When we are healthy and happy, we interact with others in a positive way, and that has a ripple effect that brings more peace and love to our planet.
thank you for making me happy
thank you for supporting my happiness
In this erasure poem, Yung Pueblo reminds us that expecting others to make us happy is an unrealistic expectation to have. While being with our loved ones can bring us happiness, we can’t always expect them to be in a state of bliss, considering they have their own life challenges. This holiday season, by doing things we love, we can make ourselves happy and joyous. We can then arrive at our holiday parties with love and happiness and share those positive feelings with our loved ones.
self-love is a sincere
acceptance of the past
an agreement to make
the most of the present
and a willingness to allow
the best to occur in the future
(wholehearted)
In these three stanzas, Yung Pueblo advocates for a more positive outlook in life, and we can remember to carry these words with us into 2021. We can learn from the lessons of 2020 by honestly reflecting on this year. And by remaining present in our lives, we can observe any negative thoughts and let them go. This allows us to manifest a more optimistic future for our lives.
They asked her,
“What is real happiness?”
She answered,
“Happiness is not fulfilling every pleasure or getting every outcome you desire. Happiness is being able to enjoy life with a peaceful mind that is not constantly craving for more. It is the inner peace that comes with embracing change.”
This Yung Pueblo poem is perfect for the holiday season and for 2020. We’ve had a challenging year, and our plans and desires may not have turned out how we envisioned. When things get difficult in our lives, it’s easy to forget how much we truly have. It’s important to remember all the blessings in our lives. A good daily practice is to say 10 things we’re grateful for every day. Feeling gratitude for what we currently have helps us feel at peace for the things we did not get this year.
This holiday season, remember to keep gratitude and love in your heart as you journey through any challenges that life may bring. No matter what holiday you celebrate—Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or New Year’s—remember that it’s a gift to be with our families and loved ones, however that may look this year. I hope you enjoy peace and happiness during this holiday season.
