Christmas week has a way of bringing things into focus.
The year winds down. The world slows just enough to catch your breath. And suddenly you're looking back at twelve months wondering how you made it through.
For me, one song kept showing up this week. "Give Love on Christmas Day" by the Jackson 5. I heard it on TV shows from last Christmas. It played in my head while I was working. It wouldn't leave me alone until I learned it and shared it with you.
Sometimes songs find us exactly when we need them.
This one arrived at the end of what's been, let's be honest, a tumultuous year. If you follow systems like astrology or numerology, you've probably heard people talking about 2025 as a year of shedding layers. The Year of the Snake. A time of transformation whether we asked for it or not.
And that's exactly what this song is really about. Giving love when everyone's been through something. Being gentle because we're all carrying more than we show.
Why This Song Matters Right Now
I wasn't planning to do this song for my PPG Lite series.
I had a different one picked out. But "Give Love on Christmas Day" kept appearing. And when a song shows up that persistently, I've learned to pay attention.
The Jackson 5 recorded this in their prime, featuring a very young Michael Jackson's stellar vocals. It's a beautiful song on the surface. But when you really listen to the lyrics, there's something deeper there.
No greater gift is there than love.
That line hits different at the end of a year like this one.
We've all been moving through 2025 in our own unique ways. Shedding old versions of ourselves. Navigating uncertainty. Trying to make sense of what's shifting both around us and inside us. Some of us experienced profound personal changes. Others watched the world transform in ways we didn't expect.
Either way, we've been going through something.
The festive season is supposed to be about joy and connection. And it is. But it's also when we find ourselves challenged by the people we love most. Relatives who push our buttons. Loved ones who trigger us in ways that surprise us even though we've known them our whole lives.
All of that comes up this time of year.
So this song landed as a reminder. Give love. To others, yes. But also to yourself. Be gentle. Everyone's doing the best they can with what they've got.
What Happens When We Forget Gentleness
Here's what I've noticed working with dozens of professionals at major life crossroads.
When the year has been intense, when we've been through transformation we didn't necessarily choose, we often become harsh with ourselves. We think we should have handled things better. Should have known sooner. Should have been stronger, clearer, more decisive.
That internal critic gets loud.
And it doesn't just stay internal. That harshness we direct at ourselves spills over into how we treat others. We become less patient. More reactive. Quick to judge because we're exhausted from judging ourselves.
The holidays amplify all of this. We're tired from the year. We're surrounded by people whose paths are diverging from ours in ways that feel uncomfortable. Someone we love is evolving in a different direction, and we don't know how to hold space for that and maintain the connection we used to have.
It gets messy.
What we forget in those moments is that we're all on this planet for such a short time. Civilization spans millennia. Our individual lives are just tiny slivers of that vast timeline. We're here, in these bodies, for a blink.
The question becomes: how do we want to spend that time?
How Music Reminds Us What Matters
Music has this unique ability to cut through all the noise and bring us back to what's essential.
It speaks to truth we already know. When I sing "Give Love on Christmas Day," I'm reconnecting with something that's always lived in me. Returning to wisdom I carried all along. That love, that gentleness, that grace we extend to each other matters more than being right or winning arguments or protecting our positions.
It creates space for complexity. A good song holds multiple truths at once. Yes, someone triggered you. Yes, you still love them. Yes, this year was hard. Yes, you made it through. Music lets all of those things be true simultaneously without needing to resolve the contradiction.
It offers permission. Sometimes we need someone else to say what we're afraid to say. The Jackson 5 singing "the world needs your love" gives you permission to soften. To put down the armor. To remember that kindness is strength, not weakness.
It connects us to shared humanity. When you hear a song like this, you realize everyone's been through their version of 2025. Everyone's carrying something. Everyone could use a little more gentleness. You're not alone in that need.
That's why I keep coming back to music in my work with people at crossroads. It's a doorway to parts of ourselves we can't reach through thinking alone.
Try This: Your Own Year-End Love Practice
If this song is landing for you, here's a simple reflection practice for the remaining days of 2025.
Step 1: Listen to "Give Love on Christmas Day" by the Jackson 5. Let the song wash over you without trying to analyze it. Just feel what comes up.
Step 2: Think about someone who's been challenging for you this year. Maybe a family member. Maybe a colleague. Maybe even yourself.
Step 3: Ask yourself these questions. No need to write answers, just notice what surfaces.
- What has this person been going through this year?
- What might they be carrying that I can't see?
- Where could I extend a little more gentleness?
- What would it look like to give love here, even if things are complicated?
Step 4: Now turn that same gentleness toward yourself. Where have you been harsh with yourself this year? What would it mean to give yourself the same grace you're learning to extend to others?
Step 5: Make one small gesture of love before the year ends. Send a kind message. Forgive something that's been weighing on you. Give yourself permission to rest without guilt.
This is about remembering that love, that gentleness, that grace is always available. Even when things are messy. Especially when things are messy.
Common Questions About Giving Love During Hard Times
Q: What if the person who's been challenging me this year doesn't deserve my gentleness?
Here's the thing. Giving love means recognizing that everyone, including that person, is struggling with something you can't fully see. It means holding boundaries with compassion. Protecting your peace while acknowledging their humanity.
Q: How do I give love to myself when I'm disappointed in how this year went?
Start by acknowledging that you made it through. That's not nothing. 2025 asked a lot of us. Whatever choices you made, whatever path you took, you're here. That deserves recognition. Self-love during disappointing times looks like speaking to yourself the way you'd speak to a friend who's been through something hard.
Q: What if my family doesn't understand the changes I'm going through?
They might not understand right now. People evolve at different paces and in different directions. Your path diverging from someone else's path doesn't mean either of you is wrong. It means you're both growing. Hold space for that. Give love to the fact that everyone's doing their best even when their best doesn't look like yours.
Q: Is this just about the holidays, or is there something bigger here?
The holidays bring it into focus, but this applies to how we move through life. We live in a time when everything feels divided. When people are taking hard stances and drawing lines. Choosing to lead with love and gentleness is revolutionary. It's how we create the world we want to live in.
Experience This Work More Deeply
This reflection on giving love is just one example of how music opens doorways to transformation.
Ready to go deeper?
Experience Pop, Place and Grace (PPG) Live. In these longer sessions, we gather as a community to process, reflect, and support each other through music. You can request songs that are meaningful to YOU and receive musical healing in real time. We help each other move toward our best next steps. Try it free for 7 days here.
Join "12 Personal Truths Before 2026." As this year closes, I'm sharing twelve personal truths I learned by living through 2025. One truth for each month of this transformative year. These are invitations to witness what became possible when I chose feeling over forcing. My lived experience, offered as a doorway into your own exploration. Get the truths here.
Watch PPG Lite. These shorter livestream sessions (like the one above) let you experience my musical healing approach and see if it resonates. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to catch me live.
Your Turn
I shared what "Give Love on Christmas Day" reminded me about 2025. Now I want to hear from you.
What's one way you're giving love to yourself or others as this year ends? Head over to LinkedIn or YouTube and share your reflection. That's where our community conversations happen, and I respond to every comment. Your story might inspire someone else to choose gentleness too.
Make these remaining days of 2025 good ones. For yourself. For your people. Give yourself the time and space to reflect, to remember, to extract the goodness from this year that you can carry forward.
Until next time, remember to find and do work that feels true.