My wife suffers greatly from this annual affliction. Some of that stems from being Jewish and feeling ...left out? oppressed by cheer? But yes, you are not alone.
I can't bear December, and in the UK, where I now live, Christmas is the most dismal festival ever. There is so much said about peace and joy and goodwill to all men, yet for many, this is the most lonely time of year ever. In India, festivals are community events. I do not remember ever being left alone on a festival, not unless I wanted to be alone, and even then I had to fight to be on my own. In the UK, and I have seen this in the USA too, unless you have close family to be with, you are pretty much on your own over this 'festive' season, and on your own in a very isolating, isolated way. And as for the homeless I see on the streets here - it's the story of the little match girl again. The goodwill seems limited to the carol singing, it seems to me. Sorry to be such a grouse, but Christmas is truly awful in the western world. :(
Thank you for sharing this, Jan. I feel that way about New Years Eve. Not sad, perse, but introspective, sometimes melancholy. Never inclined for jollity. Most years I am able to find moments of peace and content during the Christmas holidays. But there have been rough years when I just wanted to weep, and feeling pressured to appear to be happy makes it worse.
Free of expectations. Heart-healing, reflective, and nurturing.- honest and heartfelt. For us Christmas is genuinely a merry time when the whole family gets together, even out station ones, and there's lots of hugs and good food and general bonhomie, and we are not Christian- we are just from Kolkata, so when we aren't in Kolkata, celebrating being with family and friends..... well... we miss it all. So, thank you for sharing. It can be the loneliest time of year.
You write with such an authentic and heartfelt voice. It is a pleasure to read.
Christmas seems to bring out people trying to be their better and/or more expressive selves. Does it always work........not all the time. An example for me is seeing all my neighbors taking such big efforts to string up their bright and colorful lights outside their houses. Sometimes the more colorful displays are around the houses of folks that are not usually that outgoing. Maybe a lot of us are overdoing the joy-joy-joy offerings during the season, because we hold back too much of it the other eleven months.
My wife suffers greatly from this annual affliction. Some of that stems from being Jewish and feeling ...left out? oppressed by cheer? But yes, you are not alone.
I can't bear December, and in the UK, where I now live, Christmas is the most dismal festival ever. There is so much said about peace and joy and goodwill to all men, yet for many, this is the most lonely time of year ever. In India, festivals are community events. I do not remember ever being left alone on a festival, not unless I wanted to be alone, and even then I had to fight to be on my own. In the UK, and I have seen this in the USA too, unless you have close family to be with, you are pretty much on your own over this 'festive' season, and on your own in a very isolating, isolated way. And as for the homeless I see on the streets here - it's the story of the little match girl again. The goodwill seems limited to the carol singing, it seems to me. Sorry to be such a grouse, but Christmas is truly awful in the western world. :(
Thank you for sharing this, Jan. I feel that way about New Years Eve. Not sad, perse, but introspective, sometimes melancholy. Never inclined for jollity. Most years I am able to find moments of peace and content during the Christmas holidays. But there have been rough years when I just wanted to weep, and feeling pressured to appear to be happy makes it worse.
Free of expectations. Heart-healing, reflective, and nurturing.- honest and heartfelt. For us Christmas is genuinely a merry time when the whole family gets together, even out station ones, and there's lots of hugs and good food and general bonhomie, and we are not Christian- we are just from Kolkata, so when we aren't in Kolkata, celebrating being with family and friends..... well... we miss it all. So, thank you for sharing. It can be the loneliest time of year.
You write with such an authentic and heartfelt voice. It is a pleasure to read.
Christmas seems to bring out people trying to be their better and/or more expressive selves. Does it always work........not all the time. An example for me is seeing all my neighbors taking such big efforts to string up their bright and colorful lights outside their houses. Sometimes the more colorful displays are around the houses of folks that are not usually that outgoing. Maybe a lot of us are overdoing the joy-joy-joy offerings during the season, because we hold back too much of it the other eleven months.