Josephine Moon

Christmas Livingstone owns The Chocolate Apothecary, a boutique store in Tasmania that sells gifts for the senses and chocolate as medicine. She also works as a ‘fairy godmother’, granting wishes and bringing joy to others. She has a very strict list of rules for happiness that she has followed for the past three years. Many of those rules revolve around nurturing the senses, bringing joy to others, sharing abundance and taking care of her body, mind and soul.

Oh, and Christmas is the main character of my novel, The Chocolate Promise.

If Christmas also had a specific top 10 list of rules for Easter, I think this is what it would include.

1. Go slowly. The beauty of Easter is that it lasts for four days, so enjoy the quiet and the more relaxed pace than other festivities during the year.
2. Choose the best quality chocolate you can possibly get your hands on, a chocolate that is good for you, the people who grew it and made it, and the planet.
3. Use all that precious time off to fill your home with the aromas of nurturing homemade meals and treats, preferably ones that are created in union with your children and loved ones. Which leads to…
4. Create memories. Rituals and traditions are proven to be emotionally satisfying and bond-strengthening events in our lives.
5. Remember the people who might not have as much love and joy as you do and draw them into your circle with all that wonderful baking and crafting.
6. Explore all the senses, not just your sense of taste. Think about sounds, such as music; sights, such as homemade decorations; touch, such as slippers, robes, gooey marshmallow, fluffy dogs, soft chicks, fluffy bunnies, foot rubs and hugs; and smells, such as mists and candles.
7. Do remember that chocolate is toxic to dogs and can even kill them. But carob is okay, so spoil the furry canine of the family with special treats too, designed especially for her.
8. If you’re one of the many people out camping, take a bit of luxury with you, such as satin sheets for the blow-up mattress, some perfume, or a beautiful new journal to write in.
9. It’s always a good time for hot chocolate.
10. It’s not about the money or about being ‘perfect’; it’s about the joy, the love, the spirit and compassion.

Wishing you all a wonderful, relaxing and happy Easter.