For most of my adult life, I have considered the holiday season as hell on earth. It combines two of the things I hate the most – good cheer and shopping.
The cheerful well wishers, carolers, fake Santas and the “Isn’t it a great time to be alive?” folks all encourage me to be more creative about inflicting pain. (Where does one buy an anvil anyway?) Their clear joy and anticipation of the holidays grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. If I could hide out during the entire month of December, I would.
And oh, how I LOATHE shopping! I hate the stress of figuring out the perfect gifts… Of not having enough money to get it… And the crowds! For the love of God, the rabid crowds at the store! (Are we people or animals?)
Don’t get me started on the commercialization of Christmas!
Add to it all the stress of having to deal with holiday traffic, will my gifts (ordered online) arrive on time (if at all), did I forget to send someone a Christmas card, what about the obligatory holiday parties? It is complete and total madness! Silent Night my butt!
This season never fails to bring the worst out in people and I am no exception. As the temperature drops, I sink deeper into my sullen mood. When I happen to hear holiday music, it makes me want to drop kick cute puppies and kittens. I have my own personal thundercloud hovering over my head until I am safely ensconced in my sister’s house… A signal that all the holiday preparations and obligations are done and I can finally kick back , relax and enjoy.
But then it’s over too soon. And year after year I am left wishing that I could have enjoyed the holidays just a little bit more. Maybe sang along more loudly and more often when Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You came on. Or maybe even marinated just a little bit more in the gleeful anticipation of the holidays!
You see, my dirty little secret is that I love Christmas. I love celebrating Noche Buena with my family… Eating together, opening presents, playing Mahjong and Rock Band all day long in our PJs! LOVE IT! My heart could explode from the joy of Christmas. There is nowhere else I would rather be!
But I always feel like it’s over before I have even begun to enjoy it! This year though it is going to be different… I will get the business of gift shopping out of the way as soon as possible so I can revel in all the social celebrations that are to come. I can stay away from the crowds and sing along to all the holiday music with a clear conscience. And see? I even put up Christmas lights in my little apartment! So good luck to all of you this year… May you find a little bit more enjoyment in the spirit of the season.
Happy Holidays, my friends! I hope it is a wonderful one!
Yogitastic 
I feel the same way. I can’t stand what Christmas is about, but I enjoy what it should be. I rarely shop for presents, rather taking someone out to lunch or dinner and making memories instead. People shopping for gifts in August drive me up the wall!
Taking someone out to lunch or dinner is a brilliant idea! I do find it obnoxious when people talk about Christmas shopping in the middle of the year… But then again maybe they’ve figured something out that I haven’t! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, James!
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas…” is one of my favorite Christmas songs and will usually do the trick getting me in the holiday mood. However! I was bopping along to the song in my car the other day, when…all of a sudden…Justin Bieber takes over the second verse! So unfortunately, there is now a Mariah/Justin duo version of the song out there, and now a bit of the Grinch in me has returned. Harumph!
Justin Bieber? My heart just broke into a thousand pieces, Jennifer! Aarrrrrgh! Why, Mariah, why???????
The shopping and the crowds and the obligatory gatherings make me nuts, but I do, at the heart of it, love the holiday, too. I gave up sending out cards long ago – that was one nice stress to get rid of. The world didn’t explode when I gave it up. I will be the first one in a crowd to start belting out Christmas carols. You’d be giving me the evil eye on that one for sure. 🙂
As of 10:00 AM ET yesterday I finished my Christmas shopping. As of 10:00 PM ET yesterday personalized greeting cards have been ordered and addresses have been collected. (The greeting cards thing is a first for me. Not sure if I’m going to keep it up!) But as of this morning, when I’m belting out MY Christmas carols, I’m going to pretend I’m singing with you!
Hi, Sam! Really honest post. I think many folks get stressed out by the holiday season. It seems to come too fast every year.
Kudos to you for trying to take the pressure out of it. I hope you succeed and enjoy that wonderful day in your jammies 😉
My sister is insisting that I wear something “nice” for our holiday family picture. She doesn’t realize that “nice” is a relative term and that pajamas are considered elegant wear in my closet. 😉
I’m honored to have you read my post. You’re a great writer and I really enjoy your thought provoking posts!
Oh, I love this post. I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts this Christmas. I confessed that I just started shopping for gifts. I love carols, wreaths, friends and family but I just feel a little lackluster about things this year. I hope as we approach the home stretch I’ll feel a bit more jolly
We’re in the home stretch now! How are you feeling? I am now in the phase of feeling like it’s going to go by so fast and feeling sad about it already… How lame is that? 🙂 I hope your shopping went well!