As I mentioned in my prior posts, holidays can be pretty tough when you are away from family and friends you grew up with. I grew up in a traditional catholic family. Christmas and New Year's Eve means a lot and it is the time WANT to spend with family and people who you love.
This is one of the things which always hit me hard… being away from family during the holidays. But I know, I chose to be in NYC and build my life here, so I never gave myself the privilege of complaining or feeling bad about it. Building a life far away from my family was my choice. Starting a career from scratch was also my choice, so I never open up about how I really feel being away from family during this time of the year and how much I miss my holiday traditions.
Sucking all the bad energy in and going through all these moments by myself taught me to be strong, to stay focused on my path and dreams, but also taught me that, even being away from family, does not mean I have to give up on my family values and customs. The opposite! The struggle of being away from family for the past 4 Christmas made me realize that one day I would gather my friends all together, share with them how much the holidays mean to me, and decorate my house in the same beautiful holiday spirit my parents taught me to.
I worked really hard, put SO much effort into building a career in NYC, cried my eyes out (still do lol but for real), constantly face stereotyping jokes and the struggle of being alone but, even with the fact that sometimes I want to punch somebody in the face or jump out of the window, I swallow my own tears, put a smile on my face ad remind myself that being here was my choice, but that does not mean I am nobody or I have to give up my family values and traditions. Neither do you!
Immigrant or not, I have met a lot of people who would spend the holidays alone. Either because they had to work, because they could not make it home or because 2020 happened and everybody is scared of exposing their families - which is more than understandable. Staying strong and being tough is necessary if you want to build a career and make a difference in the world (lol, but for real). Do not forget that even being alone you can put up your Christmas tree and enjoy the holidays on your own having some hot chocolate or a glass of wine.
We all go through hard shit moments, but remember what your goals are is how you keep yourself focused. One of my main goals here is to remind you of that.
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