{"id":374,"date":"2025-11-30T06:17:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T06:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/?p=374"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:16:36","slug":"intentionality-the-holiday-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/intentionality-the-holiday-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"33 – Intentionality – the holiday spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Choosing Joy on Purpose This Holiday Season<\/h2>\n

The holiday season always brings its own energy \u2014 part warmth, part chaos, part nostalgia, part pressure. And this year, with everything changing in my life, it would be easy to get pulled into the stress of what\u2019s next: wrapping up my time in the military, leaving Hawaii, moving to Texas, building a new studio and forever home, which all adds up to starting a new chapter that feels bigger than I can hold all at once.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t want to spend this season staring at the horizon and missing what\u2019s right in front of me.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve been trying something different:<\/p>\n

being intentional about appreciating what I have instead of longing for what I don\u2019t yet.<\/p>\n

It sounds simple. \u00a0However, if you are not intentional, it isn\u2019t. \u00a0The Army is good at making things complicated that don\u2019t need to be. \u00a0I have an MBA, have attend multiple post-graduate level programs (Naval Post-Grad school, UNC Masters program, and William and Mary), have helped my brother to start and run a successful robotics and automation company for 25 years, and a secure military retirement. \u00a0But the Army is insistent on making sure I sit through Transition Assistance training to teach me how to fill out a resume, a budget, and apply to jobs\u2026 \u00a0Square peg in a round hole? \u00a0No problem, it\u2019s congressionally mandated. \u00a0I asked if they wanted me to teach the courses, no just sit and listen.<\/p>\n

And the truth is, I have a lot to appreciate. My wife and I are about to build our forever home. I get to create a brand-new studio for Honor and Ink\u2122 \u2014 a place shaped from the ground up with purpose, creativity, and the kind of peace I\u2019ve earned over the years. There\u2019s excitement hiding inside the uncertainty if I\u2019m willing to look for and acknowledge it.<\/p>\n

To help myself slow down and actually enjoy the season, I sat down and started sketching again \u2014 nothing heavy, just something playful to make me smile. The first one was this little masterpiece from my daughter\u2019s cat, who proudly earned his place on the Naughty List this year:<\/p>\n

\"My
Every family has at least one proud member of the Naughty List.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s simple, but that\u2019s the point. There\u2019s something grounding about making art that isn\u2019t trying to say anything profound \u2014 it\u2019s just meant to be fun. And honestly, this goofy cat wrapped in lights helped me remember that joy doesn\u2019t always show up in deep moments. Sometimes it\u2019s right here, in the lighthearted stuff we usually rush past.<\/p>\n

And the second one of my dog being\u2026 well, exactly the kind of lovable fluffy goof she always is.<\/p>\n

\"My
This lovable ball of fluff is one of the first \u201cpeople\u201d to get me into the holiday spirit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They aren\u2019t meant to impress anyone. They\u2019re meant to make people smile \u2014 including me.<\/p>\n

Somewhere between the drawings, the planning, and the attempt to breathe a little easier, I got a message from someone who\u2019s played a big role in my career: Major General (Retired) Alvin. He used to be my senior mentor, and he reached out because he wants to mentor me again as I step into retirement.<\/p>\n

The timing wasn\u2019t accidental.<\/p>\n

He reminded me that transitions aren\u2019t just about logistics. They\u2019re about connection, community, and making sure we don\u2019t try to walk into the next chapter alone. He encouraged me to reconnect with him, and gently nudged me to find a church in Texas near our new home \u2014 not out of obligation, but out of the belief that community can anchor you when everything else feels like it\u2019s shifting.<\/p>\n

That meant more than he probably realizes.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s where I\u2019m landing this season:<\/p>\n

Choosing joy on purpose.<\/p>\n

Choosing gratitude instead of scarcity.<\/p>\n

Choosing excitement over worry.<\/p>\n

Choosing connection instead of isolation.<\/p>\n

And choosing to believe that the space I\u2019m stepping into \u2014 the home, the studio, the slower pace, the new art \u2014 is something worth looking forward to. \u00a0It\u2019s all part of the process.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re feeling stretched this holiday season between the life you\u2019re leaving and the one you\u2019re stepping into, I hope you give yourself a moment to appreciate what\u2019s already in your hands. Trust the process. \u00a0There\u2019s more there than you think.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re ever looking to mark your own transition, story, or new beginning, Honor and Ink\u2122 is always here when you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re feeling stretched this holiday season between the life you\u2019re leaving and the one you\u2019re stepping into, I hope you give yourself a moment to appreciate what\u2019s already in your hands. Trust the process. \u00a0There\u2019s more there than you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,11,26],"tags":[19,20,22,24,13,25],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-therapy","category-fun","category-reflection","tag-art-motivation","tag-creative-growth","tag-perspective","tag-positivity","tag-tattoo-artist-journey","tag-trusting-the-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":595,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions\/595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}