I’ll be broke for Christmas - you can plan on me
Wherever you go in the month of December, you can always hear the tune of a song about magic snowmen, Santa Claus or snowfall but there are no songs written for the realities of the holiday season.
A song for standing in line for half an hour at Costco to pick up mozzarella sticks for a Christmas party or a song about getting paper cuts from wrapping paper or having to dip way into your savings to get your neighbour’s brother a gift because they’re getting you one.
Cheerful Christmas songs are used to make this dreary season a little more merry and bright and to distract people from the exhausted and draining feeling most experience leading up to Christmas. But since when has the joy been sucked out of such a wonderful time and how can we get it back?
As a teenager I can’t really complain. I don’t have to buy my nonexistent children expensive gifts or host huge holiday parties or worry about what to get my boss or mother-in-law for Christmas but as someone who makes less than minimum wage and has a large extended family to shop for, I can understand the potential struggle. But despite the financial stress and lack of good present ideas, I believe that the days leading up towards such a heavenly holiday do not have to be hellish.
To be blunt, the main issue is that people have stopped seeing the holiday time as what it really is. It’s turned from watching Christmas movies with family and drinking eggnog to stressful last minute trips to the mall or desperately trying to find the perfect gift for your significant other. It is a time to come together and decompress. Overeat with family. Play games. Reminisce on Christmases past. Watch Elf for the eightieth time. Wear ugly sweaters. Whatever your tradition may be.
What has stripped the joy from Christmas? The need to buy, buy, buy. To have the perfect gift, to save the right amount of money, to have the biggest turkey, the best looking tree, the brightest lights etc. All this excitement around big and best and most beautiful has stripped away the simplicity of Christmas time and the holidays and has made it stressful.
In a study done by Mirror UK, it was proved that stress levels can rise from 5 per cent to 95 per cent while Christmas shopping in a busy store.
The study also concurred that heart rates can rise from the average 75 beats per minutes (bpm) to 130 bpm. The guinea pig of the experiment took a break from the bustling stores and pre-Christmas madness to step outside for a breather.
What the experimentee actually stepped outside to was a massive protest against the decision to bomb Syria.
Amongst this chaotic hustle of people, the experimentee’s heart rate actually slowed and they found a sense of peace. A chaotic protest was much easier to handle than the inside of a Toys R Us days before Christmas.
Amazon exists. Buy gifts from the comfort of your home. No one can run your toe over with a full grocery cart in front of your fireplace.
Taking an hour to bake cookies and put them in a Christmas tin is much less stressful than trying to find a parking spot and wasting time looking for the perfect little gift.
Do something kind for someone else. Teach your kids how give. Organize a trip so that you can worry about it later. Remember the Christmases you didn’t dread.
Perhaps the meaning of Christmas to you is celebrating your family, your health, your blessings or the birth of a religious icon, but whatever it is, it shouldn’t be giving and receiving gifts. The holiday season is a time to rejoice in the miracle of your loved ones. Don’t let the pressure to buy the best rob you of your holiday joy. Elizabeth Sargeant is working in The Examiner’s newsroom this semester as part of a high school co-op program.