Thoughts on Christmas

I’ve always loved Christmas, as I’ve got older I’ve appreciated it differently. It’s become less about presents and more about the other things that make Christmas wonderful. The first thing that pops into my mind are lights. I love lights, all different types but at Christmas in the bleak shorter and darker days, a myriad of lights everywhere make the world glow and lift the spirit.

Next are the decorations. I’m not precious about how things should be and my tree usually looks like a mad jumble of trinkets, but it brings some much needed colour to a room and to the soul.

I love Christmas music, contempory or classical, as long as it’s jolly. In my opinion ballads have no place at Christmas. Christmas music should bring joy not sadness.

I’ve struggled with getting in the mood for it this year. After so much going wrong for me it’s easy to believe I have nothing to look forward to. But I need to believe that I’m wrong. Christmas is a reminder that I have survived a difficult year, surely that’s a reason for celebration? I can understand why this time of year is difficult for some people to cope with. It’s an extremely emotive time, where memories can haunt and the thought of celebration just seems too much of a stretch. I would say that it’s important to do Christmas in your own way. To try and forgo the usual demands to have fun and use it as a time for some much needed self care.