Christmas sucks

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 Christmas sucks

I know this may state the obvious but, yes, Christmas sucks.

At least, if you’re over the age of 12. Under that, it might retain some charm.

Here’s a list of things that conspire to make Christmas especially tedious, in no particular order:

1. Excessive expectations / It begins too soon
   Advertising begins in mid-October in some shops. No festival can live up to such expectations. Really, a civilised society would just ban all Christmas-related advertising before mid-December.

2. Presents
   Theoretically, both giving and receiving presents is nice. But in reality these are often a source of stress and waste, propelled by a sense of obligation. This creates immense awkwardness. And the decisions. And the cost. And the materialistic competitiveness...

3. Too much
   The aesthetics are all about excess. Immoderation and waste are essentially unpleasant. Indulgence in alcohol and food brings costs: hangovers, sickness, self-disgust.

4. Cliché / repetition
   There’s a lot of bad music, ugly decoration, and stupidity. And it’s the same junk you saw a year ago and the year before that. You can try to do things more tastefully, with a sense of modesty, but somehow that might not feel right.

5. Meaninglessness
   Celebrating stuff you don’t believe in isn’t fun or cool. Virgins don’t give birth. No one is coming to “save you.” Angels aren’t real. It’s bad for you to subscribe to this weird stuff, which is really a form of propaganda for a belief system that long ago lost its currency.

6. Family
   Yes, of course some families are great and get along well. But many don’t, or they harbour petty and ancient rivalries, so Christmas becomes a locus of conflict and anxiety. There are probably good reasons you don’t meet more often across the year, and you should respect these.

7. Forced jollity
   You’re supposed to be overjoyed. But you aren’t. Forcing feelings is unhealthy and creates a sense of disconnect. If you dislike Christmas, then accept this and try to think of alternatives. Be truthful with others about this. Maybe that way things will change?

8. “I feel bad that I didn’t…”
   Fill in the missing space.

9. There’s no escape
   Everything is shut and you are stuck with nowhere to go. The weather is appalling. Your friends are all busy.

Next year, fly to Turkey, or Thailand... anywhere that doesn’t do this thing.

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Christmas in Brazil, a praying dummy

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The arms of the praying girl move up and down continuously- part of a display at Beiramar Shopping Mall, Florianopolis 

Christmas is coming. By late October the decorations have appeared throughout the West. 

Brazil isn`t as bad as the UK. I guess the custom, imported from the Germany via the USA) hasn't yet grown deep roots. And all the winter references seem particularly anachronistic in summer in a tropical country. Ergo, the displays that I can see, (apart from some lights hanging along the flyway near my flat) are in the shopping malls and, like the shops there, they have the feeling of a foreign presence, as if implanted by aliens. 

 However, I suppose that, as Brazillian per capita income increases, this hideous festival will become more deeply and widely embedded in the culture. It affords a very obvious way to celebrate material success. I`m always puzzled as to how to deal with it. Part of me wishes to refuse, totally and outright, to participate in present giving or any of the decorating because it seems coerced, manipulated. But this approach leads too quickly to boorishness.

 So, with as little fuss as I can, I buy a few cheap things to give just before Christmas and help cook something special on the 24th.

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