I don’t celebrate any of the holidays in December. Call me a Grinch, but I don’t. My reasons are religious as well as personal; my family didn’t exchange gifts for years before I moved out, and it’s been years since I participated in any holiday-related events aside from performing in The Nutcracker for, like, nine years in a row. No church or synagogue; no gifts; no cards; no tree [full disclosure: we have three trees in my house now, but they all belong to my more festive roommates, not to me].
And as much as I delight in the aesthetics of the season [small twinkling lights and sparkly cocktail attire, ahoy!], I’m not buying presents; I’m not going crazy in an attempt to impress long-lost relatives and friends by oven-roasting my own turkey with an accompanying organic, local, fair-trade meal; I’m not spending a fortune on postage to send holiday cards or on visits to Santa for my dog.
Fortunately, my mood isn’t quite Grinch-y enough to force me into hiding for the duration of December. Here’s a handful of the secular, non-holiday-related things I do every holiday season in lieu of gifts, religion, and turkey.
- Remember your third-grade bestie, the one who lived down the hall from you during college and then sent you postcards every week when she did that semester abroad in France? When was the last time you spoke to her? Go on, give her a call. [And by "give her a call," I don't mean "poke her on Facebook." Pick up the phone.]
- How’s your savings account? If you don’t have one, read this blog from start to finish, and then get with it. Give your savings account a silly/sexy nickname so that depositing money into it isn’t a terrible chore [full disclosure: my savings account is called "So I'm Not !*@$&ing Broke"].
- Take advantage of everyone else’s days off from work, and use the time to pick up some extra hours and Get some more Things Done. I’m not kidding; last year I went in for a half-day on Dec. 23 and made time-and-a-half, knocked out three rounds of proofs while listening to my iPod [which I'd never have done when my coworkers were present] and indulged in the leftover holiday cake someone had brought in to the break room. [No one was in the office to see that I ate three pieces. (Don't judge me.)]
- What are you doing in 2010? If you don’t know, why don’t you make a plan? Get yourself a nice calendar [I'm lusting for this color-coded Moleskine set] and figure out what you’re going to do with your life next year. For me, this involves writing a proper grown-up business plan for I Love Life I Love You, planning to attend Coachella [maybe…maybe…], and keeping my fingers crossed for the Minor Leagues’ spring tour of the midwest and the East coast!
- Clean out your closet. Get rid of old things, ill-fitting things, and things that can’t be repaired. Take inventory of items whose buttons are missing, whose zippers are stuck, or who need to be refashioned, and then get it done. If you need anything new to supplement your stripped-down wardrobe, shop early in the morning on a weekday, wearing headphones. [Come on, do you really think that hearing "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum" for the millionth time since September is going to make shopping any more pleasant?]
Are you guys celebrating the holidays? If not, what do you do instead?
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2 comments
Esti says:
Dec 13, 2009
I write papers… because grad school (and, as I recall, undergrad) doesn’t believe in holidays. But that’s okay, because I like writing papers. I’d rather do that than ‘get in the holiday spirit.’ In fact, if I didn’t have to go to work as well (see twitter for the full, whinging account of my sleep deprivation), this would be one of my favorite times of the academic year.
My family does celebrate Christmas, but mostly just as a reason to get everyone back to Cleveland at the same time. The day after I turn in my finals I’m flying home to spend two days cooking with my mom (which is one of my favorite things in the world) and sleeping. I’m also buying each member of my family something from the NYU store, which is the easiest Christmas shopping I’ve gotten to do since my first semester at CWRU (the Case beer stein I bought my brother is still the best cup in my mom’s house).
Ian says:
Dec 28, 2009
I’m doing festivus instead. It’s for the rest of us.