Christmas is coming but you do not want to set up the tree, its marketing makes you sick and the waiting for gifts does not thrill you. In short, your Christmas spirit is in free fall. Whatever the reason, take advantage of the days off to rediscover the pleasure of staying at home with your family and re-grasp the essence of the holiday or celebrate it in an alternative way.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Meet Santa
Step 1. Get back on the sled, in the car or on any other means of transport and dedicate yourself to gifts if the Christmas spirit is for you to participate in the holidays with your colleagues in the office, find a parking space at the mall, grab the best offers, exchange gifts with your loved ones and make them happy with the right gift for them, especially if they weren't expecting it
Perhaps you have lost this spirit because someone else has infected you. The over-commercialization detracted from the joyfulness of the party. But that doesn't mean you can't experience it your way
Step 2. Avoid the crowds
Chaos and jostling can kill the holiday spirit.
- Go shopping in out-of-the-way shops. You will get two advantages: you will not buy the classic mass products sold at the mall, which are sometimes of poor quality, and you will find original pieces.
- Buy handmade jewelry and artisan sweets, go to charity markets or create your own gifts by knitting or making a painting or a typical Christmas cake. Keep in mind what you can do and get to work.
Step 3. Read this passage and close your eyes
Now, visualize the best Christmas you've ever had. You might remember the time you received your dream bike or that Christmas Eve when your fiancé proposed to marry him. Ask yourself, “What made that day special? How did I feel?”.
- If you felt a sense of wonder and it seemed to you that everyone was more "good", try to recreate those atmospheres. Go see the faces of the children as they line up to meet Santa or imagine the elves preparing gifts.
- Don't forget to smile and walk with your head held high to make eye contact with the people around you and say hello or wish them a Merry Christmas. Give it a try, even if you think it is useless: you will be amazed.
Step 4. Decorate your home, whether you live alone or have children
Enjoy the season in every way possible.
- If you can, buy a real Christmas tree.
- Get a tree a couple of weeks before Christmas, put Christmas music on CDs, choose decorations, bake cookies: your home will have to invade all the senses.
- Hang a wreath on the door - it will be the first thing you'll see when you get home.
Step 5. Get together with your friends and family and send out greeting cards or emails
Make phone calls on Skype or organize a Google Hangout with video by placing the tree in the background, with all the lights on
Step 6. Watch Christmas Movies:
"Miracle on 34th Street", "Christmas Carol" (versions are various), "Rudolph", "Nightmare Before Christmas", "Mom I missed the plane" … Simple stories that can tear a smile and warm the heart.
Step 7. Eat some Christmas food:
candy sticks, panettone … Find out about the traditions of other countries and buy their specialties.
Bake cakes and cookies even if you don't know how to cook: you'll make the whole family happy. If you have children, let us help you
Step 8. Delegation
If you hate Christmas because you have to cook, clean, shop, etc., assign some tasks to your relatives.
Share the work. Make a plan with your husband: for example, you cook and he cleans. Go shopping with someone and ask your kids to help you out
Method 2 of 4: Silent Night, Holy Night
Step 1. Forget the mass and rethink the meaning you attach to Christmas, which could only be religious
Maybe you have lost your spirit due to the secular nature of our society or maybe you are tired of hearing cynical jokes about what you believe. None of this is relevant. The essence of Christmas can be intimate, so step away from the negativity.
Step 2. The tree and star on the tip represent a symbol that will inspire you to breathe in the new Christmas spirit
Fill the house with perfumes and candles. If you are a Catholic, you can place them in front of the window, an Irish tradition used during the Protestant Reformation to indicate to priests that they had free access to a particular house for the purpose of celebrating the sacraments
Step 3. Turn on the music to remember your childhood and let yourself be enveloped
Listen to Christmas carols too. If you like to sing, get together with friends and family to rediscover them over a hot chocolate
Step 4. If you are religious, read the part of the Bible dedicated to the birth of Jesus
You can memorize it or share it with your family to recover faith in humanity.
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You could also go to church on Christmas Eve, where you will relive the millenary history and join the joyful atmospheres with other people.
Altar at Sanford Memorial
Step 5. Exchange gifts with your family and friends
You don't have to spend a lot on gifts - something meaningful and symbolic will do. Nothing forced: only give gifts to those you love
Step 6. A perfect dinner
You can spend all day in the kitchen or offer something simple - this depends a lot on your family's habits. Invite whoever you want a couple of weeks in advance, so you know what to cook and get an idea of the quantities.
- Satisfy the tastes of diners but leave room for traditional foods.
- In the mood for something different? Don't organize any banquets and, on Christmas Eve, go and eat at an exotic restaurant with your family.
Step 7. Repeat to yourself and others “Merry Christmas
”.
Method 3 of 4: Winter Solstice
Step 1. Escape from Christmas is almost impossible:
everyone talks about it and everywhere. To recover the origins of the winter holidays, start making some changes:
- Change channel! Whenever they play a Christmas movie or commercial, grab the remote. Follow National Geographic or History Channel - you might see a documentary on how the meaning of Christmas moved from Bethlehem to Wall Street. An alternative is to turn off the TV.
- Turn off the radio to not listen to Christmas songs.
- You will also have to skim the websites you visit regularly, especially Facebook.
Step 2. Find people similar to you
If Christmas only coincides with the winter solstice for you, do a Google search to find forums where you can talk to like-minded people. There are various alternative celebrations:
- Saturnalia. The Romans celebrated the return of light with banquets, gambling, and cheerful celebrations. The reason? Doing so would have defeated Saturn, the Father of Time but also the personification of death. The Saturnalia are celebrated from 17 to 24 December.
- If alcohol in rivers and parties are not for you, you should know that on December 25th we celebrate the celebration of children, called Juvenalia. The ancient Romans entertained the little ones with gifts and parties.
- Mithra, not to be confused with "Mothra" or "Mithrandir". Mithra was the Persian god of the sun. Many civilizations celebrated the return of light during this time of year, with the promise of renewal. According to legend, Mithra appeared from a rock armed with a knife and a torch. The shepherds saw him and thanked him by offering him gifts.
- Yule, the feast of the solstice of the Norse and Teutonic peoples (Northern Europe). The celebrations included, among other events, the burning of a large green trunk in the hearth: this passage marked the beginning and the end of the festivity. The tradition of decorating the house with green elements, such as garlands or the tree, derives precisely from this holiday.
Step 3. Honor in the dark
As the winter solstice is approaching, the days are getting shorter, especially if you live north of the northern hemisphere. Nature gets rid of the old to make room for spring.
- You can take advantage of these traditions as a symbol of renewal.
- Each night, set aside an hour to ponder the things you have lost over the course of the year and what you want to change.
- If you don't have time for an hour of meditation, half an hour will do.
- Spend the day of the solstice in silence, reflecting. Say goodbye to the losses, pain and regrets of the past year. Write everything on slips of paper, which you will burn in the Yule fire.
Step 4. Start a new tradition, which you will celebrate alone or with the people around you
Incorporate it into old celebrations, incorporating concepts like dark and light, death and birth, decay and renewal.
- Prepare a banquet! In most peasant cultures, the intermediate period of winter is a time to spend at home with the family and savor the goodness of the previous year. Host a seasonal feast of fall foods: cured meat, game, root vegetables, wine, hot drinks, and fresh bread.
- Come up with a name for your party, like “The Annual Celebration of the Rebirth and Renewal of the Reds”.
- Create personalized greeting cards.
Step 5. Decorate the house by getting a Yule tree and adding colors such as red and green
- Also choose white, which is reminiscent of snow.
- Put a white sphere on top of the tree - it will represent the moon. In fact, the classic star of the east is associated with the Magi and Bethlehem, and therefore with Christianity.
- If you have a fireplace, light the fire.
- The gifts must be simple, perhaps artisanal: wooden toys, cheeses …
Step 6. Celebrate the season your way
This time of year will need to be filled with joy, renewal, growth and love. You will be the one to determine its meaning.
Step 7. Happy Holidays
Method 4 of 4: For Everyone Else
Step 1. Your faith, your beliefs, your desires, your traditions, your expectations do not matter:
take advantage of this season to renew yourself. Think about the things that really meant to you and decide to dedicate your life to your goals. The Christmas spirit, whatever it is, resides mainly in us.
Step 2. Merry Christmas
Advice
- Download songs from the internet to personalize the music you will listen to at home.
- Do not get infected by the stress of the gifts and the calories of the dinner: be happy!
- Carve out a moment for yourself and get out and breathe the Christmas air. Find your balance and peace for a season of triumphs.
