Cliché as it is, the holiday season finds even the most well-intentioned of us scrambling to get it all done, agonizing over how to make everything meaningful and beautiful in the process. Rather than a season of waiting, Advent can feel like a time of guilt and perfectionism, when every moment, present, and meal has to be done just so.

Becca Stevens is an author, speaker, priest, social entrepreneur, founder and president of Thistle Farms. She has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC World News, NPR, PBS, and was recently named a 2016 CNN Hero.