Holidays are No Longer Fun
The Holiday season once was a time of joy and tradition, bonding with your families and connecting with loved ones you didn’t see throughout the year. As the years go by holidays have become more about depression, obligation, and debt.
The thought of sparkling lights, Christmas music, ugly sweaters and the smell of pine are a nostalgic event we look forward to but what is it we really do during the HALLMARK HOLIDAYS? We spend time with people we don’t like, people we wouldn’t see any other time of the year, we reflect on loss and pain things that really don’t register throughout the year. Worst of all we put ourselves in debt to by presents for others for no other reason than society says we should.
Why do we do these years after year? Put ourselves in debt, buy gifts just to funnel money into the economy for a holiday that truly has lost its meaning and value. Christmas is no longer the birth of Christ, and most have no idea why they actually celebrate Christmas. They aren’t really religious and honoring the birth of Jesus, but history has proven that Jesus was not born anywhere near December 25.
Do we even know why we do it? Really is there a reason that we spend a ton of money on gifts, run up credit cards, take off work and go above a beyond to be with people we barely tolerate each other throughout the year? It seems like we have all just become slaves to the essence of these holidays but in the interim, these holidays cause a depression that isn’t felt throughout the year.
The holiday season is the hardest time for those who are alone, those who have felt trauma, pain, loss or loneliness. These are feelings that we can push aside in our day to day lives but during the holidays they seem to bring everything to the surface. Those who are alone feel more alone than they ever did before those who are missing someone are missing them more. The perception that the holidays are jolly is a complete lie. Something we as a society like to fake and cover-up by superficial means.
For me the holidays bring up all the pain from the past, all the people I miss and will never see again. I try to fill my pain by finding ways to make others happy, as I know I will never find that happiness in myself. I am not alone; the holidays bring the suicide rate up exponentially. They push people to the edge. It’s unnecessary pain that is forced on us year after year. Every year it gets harder and harder for me to do the simplest of things like put up a tree or decorate. I know these are my issues I have to work through but I also know I am not alone, so many feel the same way I do with no resolve.
Maybe one day we will evolve as a society and remove ourselves from the need to be superficial during the holidays. Remove the need for us to buy crap we don’t need or use and bring ourselves back to a time of love and gratitude. Until then remember you are not alone, reach out to find someone to get you through. If you have the means to have a place to offer a holiday feast, extend that offer to someone you know is alone. That will mean more than you can even imagine.
Mary Goodnight
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