I am going to try not to stress too much in this article how silly I think Christmas is, holidays in general, and New Years eve most of all. The fact of the matter is, here in the western hemisphere, we have created this pattern of artificial, enforced celebration and it is almost impossible not to be affected by it or to feel the pressure. Buy presents! Wear terrific outfits! Go somewhere spectacular!
I dread December, always have since the first time I didn’t get anything I wanted or needed for Christmas and felt a black hole in my heart instead of the joy that kids were supposed to feel. Was it because I was an ungrateful wretch, or was it because the shallowness of commercially-driven spirituality is misdirected energy which of course, misses its mark?
Don’t get me wrong—I love rituals, I love good meals, I love telling my loved ones how much I love them. But I do not like being told when to shop, when to celebrate, how to celebrate. I’ve never been comfortable counting down to a new year, as if that sort of measurement counts for something meaningful. I have lived all over the world and for me, I’m much more comfortable with a different sort of holiday, particularly those of Tibet and other Asian countries. And of course, now I run the risk of being seen as anti-American, as if God, Santa, Jesus, culture and politics are all connected somehow.
But here we are, most of us reading this I assume, in the west, dealing with the mental hangover of Christmas with New Years looming just ahead. We may …
Rudy Simone is the author of Psychology Today’s Aspergirls blog.
Does ChristmasMiss the Mark? appears here by permission.
[image: the author at age 7]
Rudy Simone on 12/31/10 in featured, Society | No Comments | Read More
