This is the last week that you can order something and almost guarantee holiday delivery.  So let’s do one last pass on holiday gift ideas, starting with the New Year kit that I’m giving to some close friends.

Palo Santo wood is a “sacred tree from South America.” Burning its wood, as one would burn incense, is supposed to have healing and purifying properties.  The scent is similar to frankincense with hints of citrus.

In previous years, my New Year gifts were celebratory, but 2021 wasn’t that kind of year.  So for 2022, I’m giving a stick of ethically harvested palo santo wood, a small apothecary bottle filled with matches, and a bowl for burning the wood.  (I picked up my bowls at a local pottery market, but I loved this one from Etsy.)

I burn palo santo when I need to reset.  I keep some on my kitchen windowsill.  Five years ago, I would have considered this too “new age” for me, but after the past two years, sure, I’ll burn some sacred wood from South America in a constant search for mental calm.  Regardless of calming benefits, it smells nice, like an expensive hotel.

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