Christmas. Is It Worth The Hype?
After concluding that this year we won’t be visiting our families due to the multiple restrictions and safety measures in, I started to consider the idea of not celebrating Christmas at all.
As much as businesses try to convince us, I thought, Christmas is just a celebration focused on food, family, decorations, presents and annoying songs. I debated between the positive and negative effects of participating in this particular social construct.
When I was a child, decorating the tree was one of the most exciting parts of Christmas. But my memory tells me that it wasn’t about a massive plant and tiny chocolate balls hanging from it. The day we put on the tree and decorated the house welcomed a new season.
When I moved, we questioned the use of celebrating Christmas on our own. We were getting flights every year in order to spend New years eve and the following days family. However, the idea of decorating our place or engaging in other Christmas activities like buying a tree wasn’t appealing.
On top of that, as we grow up, our awareness of the materialistic foundation of Christmas holidays becomes more real. The word is telling us to buy all-the-time. Spend money on limited Christmas food, buy a gigantic tree, buy decorations for the tree, buy lights, buy presents for your family and friends.
I had so many reasons to ignore everything related to the celebration this year. Yet, there is one thing that made me decide I wanted to participate.
A few months ago I read an article unfolding how the lack of Holiday expectations is playing a big factor in the unhappiness of people during 2020. Holiday expectations start from the moment we book a flight or start looking for an Airbnb in the area we want to visit.
And I couldn’t agree more. I always feel with better spirits days before I go on a trip. I am more active, I spend my free time excitedly looking for venues to eat and visit. I watch Youtube videos from travellers that have been in the same area.
The previous days before the holidays are exciting because we are telling our body that something new is coming. We need change, we grow with new experiences. Contrary to that, long extents of time without changes in our routine can make us feel more unmotivated, making us feel like we live in autopilot mode. Breaks in our daily life are positive for our mental health, and the lack of them can force us to continue our routine in autopilot.
That’s why the change in weather is exciting for us. We feel more energetic with the beginning of the summer, we exercise more, eat healthier and maybe even plan a short trip to the beach. As soon as the first days of Autumn pop in, we start getting excited about the activities we connect with the season, like pumpkin spice lattes, evenings at our favourite coffee places and fitting into our cosy pyjamas.
Seasons create small adjustments in our routine that often have a positive effect on our minds. And holiday seasons are exactly that. If done properly, they will have a positive effect on our mental health too.
So…last year I got a small tree. A white one. I have always wanted a white aesthetic Christmas tree and I had some fun decorating it. I also discovered my new favourite relaxing activity of the season: making presents look nice. I am not good at it, but love it!
I will spend Christmas evenings watching TV shows and finding ways to decorate gifts. That said, I don’t think I will play Christmas song this year, they feel boring and repetitive. I also won’t leave Red Santa’s hats around the place and I will avoid binging on chocolates 7 times a day like the previous years.
But I will celebrate it, a bit.
How is Christmas looking like this year for you? And most important, do you enjoy Christmas songs?
16 Comments
Jess
Great post, of course this is a particularly good year to rethink how do we feel about Christmas and how much do we enjoy it!
Personally, I do like Christmas but don’t love it because I’m a shite gift giver and it stresses me out 🙂
Zineb
I’m bad at giving gifts and I’m bad at receiving them. Both make me uncomfortable!
Kiira Smith
Finding gifts can be very stressing. Something that I do is to mentally note the things that people around me like or enjoy when I am with them. When Christmas/Birthdays arrive I already know what I should get. It’s a lot more enjoyable now!
Viagro
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Enjoy the best holiday of the year, however you want to spend it. You are in control.
Karin
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Kiira Smith
hahahaha love this
John Malone
Great post, really interesting insight. I do like Christmas a lot.
People seem to want to be kind and good to each other, more so than usual. They tend to think of others in need more often, just wish it was more of a year round thing, but hey.
it just seems to bring out the natural good in people.
Kiira Smith
Agree! People smile a lot more and even seem to be happier when doing daily tasks like buying groceries, another reason to participate!
Karen
I also did fall out of love then fallen again in love with Christmas. Your post was super relatable because it’s a very similar process to the one I had over the last few years.
It was a great read!
Kiira Smith
Thank you! The best way to enjoy every celebration is by doing it your way and under your own terms. The traditional idea of how we should celebrate it is not always applicable to everyone. Fortunately, we can still find beautiful lights and nice activities to love it 🙂
Joris
It’s great that you have your ‘Christmas spirit’ back! I do like the festivity, I guess I just think it’s a great opportunity to spend quality time with the people you love (specially after such a tough year)
Kiira Smith
I’m glad to read you guys enjoy it so much, Christmas spirits up!
Caroline
Great post. I love white Christmas trees, I have one too!
Hopefully you liked decorating you house as much as I did with mine 🙂
Kiira Smith
White trees are incredibly underrated! I loved decorating the house even though I mainly used lights 🙂
Lana
Great post and super interesting to read. I love Christmas because for nearly the entire month of December you can:
Eat like a king/queen and nobody will go at you because it’s “Festive!”
Sleep to whenever the hell you want because it’s cold and nasty outside. Nobody expects you to go outside
Give and receive gifts from people. Something about that lit up face feels nice.
Kiira Smith
There are so many beautiful things we can enjoy during the Christmas season, eating and decorating gifts are my favourite ones by far! And I wouldn’t mind if it snows this year though 🙂