i stumbled upon this post on sunday evening and found myself agreeing with many of the author’s sentiments.
ironically enough, this particular holiday season finds me happiest i’ve ever been, but that doesn’t negate the fact that there were some rougher ones to precede it. and for that reason, i thought i’d share this little food for thought posted by one of my favorite bloggers. just in case you were in need of a reminder.
I was reading a blog entry this morning where the writer mentioned she hated Christmas. And my initial reaction was all “C’mon, Scrooge. How can you hate Christmas? I mean, have you never tasted egg nog?”
But then I started thinking about it. This is a HARD season. And some times I’d like to blame that on the short, dark days and the biting cold and the way everything is brown. But then sometimes I think maybe it’s hard because everywhere you turn there are twinkling lights and grinning Facebook photos of families and jolly parties and playful songs and so much insistence that you BE HAPPY BECAUSE EVERYONE IS HAPPY. And that doesn’t feel good.
We all have our sadness. The things and people and places we miss that are especially hard in the holiday season because it reminds us they’re not there. But I actually think that’s because of what we’ve made Christmas—not what the holiday is actually celebrating. If you make a holiday about twinkling lights and happy families and jolly parties, then your Instagram feed may look awesome, but you’ll inevitably feel let down (first hand knowledge, folks). But I’d imagine that if you make the holiday about the ultimate gift of love, then maybe it’s not so bad. Maybe it makes you think less about those missing things and more about the thing you’ve been given.
So, that’s my goal this season. Well, that and to create the perfect egg nog. I’ll keep you posted on both.
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