Holidaydreaming

Having nothing to do here at work, I spent most of my morning reading blogs and came across this post on Well. Following the post were a number of reader comments, many in the vein of, “This is exactly why I refuse to fall victim to the trappings of a consumerized Christmas! I hate shopping, and I refuse to put up lights or decorations. If I could hibernate from Thanksgiving through the new year, I would.” That kind of thing. I felt a little sheepish reading the comments, because while I’m not really into the gifting aspects of the winter holidays, either, I do love so many other things about this time of year.

For starters, I love the music. My dad complains that “they start playing the Christmas music on the radio IN THE MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER,” but I don’t mind a bit. Now that Thanksgiving’s come and gone, I’ve dug out all of my holiday-music CDs (and bought one or two more) and am playing them constantly, enjoying every track. I just love Christmas music! Some of the love is nostalgic, some of it is simply related to my musical tastes. (Nostalgia love: any version of “Little Drummer Boy.” Musical-tastes love: Bing Crosby’s “Jingle Bells” featuring the Andrews Sisters.) And holiday music, when enjoyed on the radio, online, or from a few favorite, old CDs, doesn’t have to cost much, if anything.

Secondly, I love holiday décor. Even here in sunny SoCal, winter can be a little dreary, so lights and poinsettias and festively decorated trees brighten my spirits. I think it’s normal for people to want to counter the cold and gray of winter with lights and ornamentation. It’s fun, frankly. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Hanging a small wreath on one’s door, or tying a red ribbon on one’s lamppost---these are not costly, crazy-consumer endeavors. As for me and mine, we’ve put up a lovely new tree (artificial, thank you Target) and a cheesy-but-entertaining little train-station tabletop decoration, which Maya LOVES, and each day we look forward to turning these items on in the evening and enjoying their pretty little lights.

Thirdly, the Christmas cookies. Oh how I love Christmas cookies. Last year, one of my very favorite gifts was the little collection of homemade Christmas cookies my friends J and P gave me. Maybe it’s my Grandma Watson’s influence, but I’ll always equate homemade baked goods with love, warmth, and friendship. Baking cookies for someone is such a lovely, personal way of telling that person you care about her and are thinking of her, in my opinion. In the past I’ve organized workplace cookie exchanges, which to me are a fun, low-key, low-cost way to celebrate the holiday season.

Fourthly, I always look forward to the perennial Christmas specials on TV. Charlie Brown, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the 30-minute original animated version, thank you very much), Frosty the Snowman, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation…they’re fun and goofy and reminiscent of happy childhood Christmases. Plus, many of them, such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, include wonderful music. And again---enjoying these specials is free of charge!

Lastly, I just plain enjoy the added excitement that this season brings. It’s nice to break away from the ordinary for a few weeks. Holiday luncheons at work, little get-togethers with friends, holiday parades, Christmas concerts, holiday cards, and the like are pleasant diversions.

I guess what I’m getting at is that sure, rampant holiday consumerism and retail pressure is a drag, and kind of a national embarrassment, in a way, but a person can still enjoy this time of year without spending tons of money and energy shopping and racking up tons of expenses. Boycotting the holiday season is anyone’s right, but it seems to me that everyone can find something holiday-related to enjoy and feel good about.