Anyone else not doing Christmas this year?

[Moabite]

I'm a pagan, (nature worshiper) and I cheerfully wish everyone "Merry Christmas!" to whatever faith they belong. It's not that I'm narrow minded, it's that I expect them not to be also. Yule, Solstice, Christmas, Hanuka, my point is: Are you gonna celebrate and spread cheer or wallow in darkness and bitterness? I don't get offended by what it is called, just as long as you have found your excuse to celebrate the return of longer days. The short days, lack of sun light and vitamin D, Seasonal Depression, it is a tough time of the year for many. If you are happy spread your cheer. If you are not, please fake it, count your blessings, seek the light! Humanity needs all the cheer it can muster, please do your part. Thanks for reading.

 

[3goodeggs]

I suppose we are peculiar. Well, no supposing. We are not like anyone we know. We celebrate everything.

I am not saying we spend our hearts out and swallow all of the Madison avenue hoopla.
But we have fajitas on Cinco de Mayo and we study some history.
We have Chinese food in the tree house (we have a huge tree house) for the Lantern festival and the Moon festival...and we study some culture and history of China. We make valentines and put them in the mail boxes( I know it's illegal) of the single neighbors and let them know we remember them. We have dinner in the tree house on the longest day of the year, and we save a few fireworks to shoot off because we can. We make a meal, or bake something, and we acknowledge that every culture and every faith has it's celebrations and we try to learn from them.
What would Jesus do? Well, I think he would embrace everyone.

Christmas advertisements-especially the one that an elf worries that they'll have cancel Christmas because they have run out of some electronic gizmo....ARUGG! you can not cancel Christmas anymore than you can cancel tomorrow. Idiotic advertising has killed Halo's Spirit.

And Halo, , the plants are going in the chipper , so come pick up some when the freeze is over.
(or tell me what you want and I will save you some.)

Life is the journey. I do not always feel like celebrating, but I am always glad that we did it. I suppose we just celebrate life. It does not require much money, just a few recipes and a little research.
Times have gotten very 'difficult' for us. And yet it feels more like the "Who-ville Christmas " this year than it ever has. People have evaporated from our lives as times have not allowed us to be as generous as we used to be, but the friends that remain are the Christmas spirit. I treasure them.

 

[purr]

Quote:
Love it!!!

 

[Dunkopf]

I'm going to celebrate Santa Claus Day. That's my new name for the whole thing. My reason for the season.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

As other have said several times and I will say again. Christmas is what you make of it and we live in America and you have the freedom to choose how you celebrate it! I think it's just a time for love, sharing and kindness....Jesus aside, I think that's what it's all about and what's wrong with that. And...if you choose to give gifts to your friends and family you can do with your money they way you wish. They are just enjoying the holidays! I will keep on saying Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and if you don't like it, that's just too bad! I have 4 small children who love christmas and we teach them the meaning of Christmas, and about giving and I just think it's a happy time, I enjoy it! I think we just need to lighten up, people are too judgemental, try to see the positives and let others choose to celebrate or not how ever they wish!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Yule, Winter Solstice, Kawanza, and Ramadan! Let's just enjoy it.

 

[Organics North]

Spectacular....!
Indeed the "Spirit of the season" is alive and well.
We have this thread and a bible thread, with out argumentation we a diverse group with many different beliefs can come together...
Oh it makes me sooooo happy....

 

[dsc6]

First of all, ON, I love your sig line. "All is the prey of life."

About Christmas. It is an incredibly difficult time of year for me as I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I find it extremely stressful that the family looks to me to meet their varied needs regarding this holiday. I am a widow, and would, in an ideal world, take a cruise to the Carribean over Christmas. My oldest daughter (20 yo) loves every holiday and really needs them all to be 'done up'. but I just can't do it. So every year, there is the tension caused by her unmet expectations. She yearns for the Mom-Makes-A-
Wonderful-Christmas-For-Me experience, like from her childhood, but I simply don't have the emotional energy to pour into Christmas. I can't even get the house clean for it; I feel about a month behind in my to-do list--and that doesn't even get around to the Christmas 'to-do' stuff. I'm still trying to get the Fall yard clean up done. I work full-time, too. So, every year I feel like a terrible selfish mother for breaking my oldest daughter's heart. My youngest daugther's birthday is Dec 23, and she is an atheist, and resents lots of Christmas decorations. She feels like it really takes away from her birthday. She would like it if no decorations or other Christmas stuff happened till after her birthday, and maybe only in one room of the house. So there is also her whole set of expectations regarding me creating her birthday experience. I always feel horrible for always disappointing them both. Thus the desire to just run away and pretend it doesn't exist. Celebrating any of the holidays without my husband and their father is an additional aspect of the whole thing.

I would like Christmas, if only there was someone to help create it. I was shocked as a young mother to discover that 'creating' Christmas was just about the hardest 'work' I ever did. There are very intense expectations, especially from children, totally fostered and exagerated by the commercial jugernaut. If there was someone else to do the hard work of it all: cleaning the house, getting the decorations down from the attic, taking the empty boxes back up, getting the tree in and put up and the lights put on, getting the outside decorations done. getting the inside decorating done, cleaning the kitchen after each holiday foray into baking, etc., helping buy and wrap the presents, planning the activities, then taking all the decorations down and getting them back into the attic, and getting rid of the tree--I would love it and would get into the fun of it if someone else would do the work of it all. I just can't do it. Even thinking about it enough to make the preceeding list is making me feel stressed and exhausted.

 

[purr]

Quote:
sounds like you should all take a cruise the week of christmas. Then all the decorating and festivities are done for you and you can celebrate the youngest ones birthday with a nice dinner or on a beach somewhere away from all the commercialism.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

"Season's Greetings" to you all.

 

[DLS]

#1 I am a non believer so that X's out the jesus thing.
#2 I have grand kids so even though we don't have decorations or a tree we still get the younguns presents.
Its sort of lIke I don't believe in ghosts & witches But I still hand out holloween candy