Santa's Coming!

A few years ago I decided to stop “doing” Christmas. My reasons are several, but at the top of the list is that I am not a religious person, so to celebrate a religious holiday would be more than a touch hypocritical. Take that away, and one is left with consumerism. It took me awhile to wean myself from the annual urge to shop, spend, and spread holiday cheer, but I am much happier and stress-free about the season with each passing year. Take away consumerism, and what we have is an obligation (dreaded by many) to endure a family gathering on a particular calendar day. My holiday obligation this year is a mulberry pie, that’s all, and that’s fine with me.

Early on in my Christmas boycott, when asked during the weeks-long bombardment of advertisements and holiday spirit if I was “ready” I would simply reply that yes, I was pretty much ready, keeping to myself the fact that I wasn’t even attempting to GET ready. I discovered that if I did mention my reason for not celebrating, I might need to actually defend my position in conversation. As if my unpopular choice was the result of my obvious ignorance, some people seemed compelled to teach me something they thought I had overlooked -- that it’s not only about Jesus, it’s about giving and sharing and spending time with the people you love, and besides that what about the all pretty lights and warm fuzzy feelings? A surprising number of people actually asked why I don’t consider myself to be Christian, hadn’t I been raised that way? Others appeared to be so confused that I could almost see the little gears inside their heads turning, churning out little ticker tapes with the words “Is she Jewish? Maybe Jehovah’s Witness?” printed on them. It was as if I was being branded a soldier in the war on Christmas.

Now, though, to those who ask, I’m much more open about saying that I don’t really celebrate Christmas. My intent is not to offend anyone -- I do in fact try to phrase it as innocuously as possible, and I truly hope that those who do observe it enjoy it and get their money’s worth, so to speak. So, have a holly, jolly Xmas, everyone! Peace on Earth!