Speaking of "Home for the Holidays"

While Christmas movies are a dime a dozen, there are precious few movies that focus on that other venerable holiday here in the U.S.: Thanksgiving. There is one, however, which is very funny - and maybe a bit too "close to home"  if your family tends towards "dysfunctional."

Get Organized: Your Holiday Calendar

A lot of holiday stress can be attributed to lack of organization. Possibly you have these amorphous thoughts floating around in your head about what needs to be done, but you never sit down and make out a list or a schedule. Perhaps you don't even evaluate how much you can--or how much you want to spend--this year. Then the 15th of December rolls around, and just like last year, you haven't made any preparations at all....

So you stress. And come New Year's Day, you're exhausted and you're glad it's over for another year.

Get yourself organized. Get a blank calendar, and start planning out every aspect of your holiday season. There is something about getting all the plans out on paper that is both stress-reducing and liberating. Not only that, but after you've finished filling out your calendar, you can ruminate over it for a few days and decide what you need or would like to hack out to make things easier on you and yours.

No excuses. Here is a link to a site where you can design and print out as many custom, full page blank calendars as you'd like, for free - no membership necessary, no leaving your e-mail address. 100% free, no strings attached. You can even personalize your calendar(s) with a photograph(s).

 

A reduced-size version of a blank calendar created for free at dayweekyear.com.

Do it NOW. Don't wait.

Lastly, here's a Christmas schedule that no one but Martha Stewart would attempt. ;)

The First day of Winter

I'm an outspoken person, so by all means, take the following with a grain of salt...

It will officially be winter in a few hours. I had to go out on this near-winter's day, because I needed a few groceries and a pair of pants. I expected it would be bad out there, and my expectations were, in fact, exceeded. It was horrible out there. The traffic was horrible, the stores were packed, and there seemed to be an inordinate number of cranky people around. My brother (who went with me) said, "I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days...."

People blowing through the roundabouts and cutting others off like the bold "yield" warning on the pavement had been erased. Others punching the accelerator to make it through the yellow light at intersections. Cutting others off, when perhaps on another day, they might have taken their foot off the gas and given someone an opening. A line of cars, stretching from Bakerview all the way to Bennett Road. Parking lots packed and the stores crowded with masses of complete strangers, shoulder to shoulder, each "safe" inside his/her insulated little world. Frowning. Yessir, I took an inventory. A lot of frowning and furrowed brows out there.

But maybe it's always that way. I'll have to do a post-Xmas comparison.

I'm glad I've backed off from this sort of thing, this"surfing the fray," for the most part. Because anyone who's out in that on a daily basis...well, I can understand why y'all feel like crap at Christmastime.

Not that I endorse simulated cheer*. But there's an old Vietnamese saying: "Ornament is for joy." Why are you doing it, if there's no joy in it? But more importantly, what is life for, if not to enjoy?

One thing is certain: I'll not go near a retail establishment, save maybe Starbucks for a cup of coffee, from now until Christmas is over. It's a jungle out there.

P.S. - You erratic drivers - take a chill pill. You're a danger to yourself and others.

*Actually, I do endorse simulated cheer, for its therapeutic value, but not when it's employed simply as a "veneer."

Caroling

While music still figures importantly in Christmas celebrations in North America, it is increasingly uncommon that entire families should break into song on Christmas Eve, or that carolers should wander the streets spreading good cheer. I think this is partly due to the proliferation of pre-packaged Christmas music, where the Vienna Boy's Choir comes to your living room (or your mp3 player) in high-fidelity, and partly due to the fact that more and more people simply aren't cheerful at Christmas, for a whole range of reasons (stress,commercialism, and SAD figuring prominently among these).

So, who feels like singing? Well, let me tell you something about that. A very wise counselor friend once told me, regarding depression, that "sitting around and waiting for a good mood to overtake you" is an exercise almost always destined for failure. You have to "fake it until you make it," she said. Obviously, this is simplistic in regard to biological factors, like SAD, or clinical depression, but otherwise, it's completely true. Being "up" is something you most often have to put conscious effort into. You fake it, until you make it.

Which brings us back to the subject of caroling. Raising your voice in song is a very, very old and time-honored way to celebrate life. We don't do it nearly enough anymore; we leave it to the "artists" to do for us.

But making homegrown song can be a whole lot of fun, and can generate a whole lot of good cheer - and even moreso if someone in your family plays an instrument and can provide accompaniment. But even if that isn't the case, there are ways to get around it. Karaoke sites on the web, and other sites devoted to Christmas music. Instrumental CDs of Christmas music that you may sing along to, etc.

If you're uncomfortable with this, then try singing when you're by yourself. Sing at the top of your lungs. I do, even when I'm not by myself, but most of my immediate family is used to it, and several of them do the same.

To help you along with this, I'm establishing a links category comprising nothing but links to Christmas music sites.

Another idea: if the old, time-honored Christmas songs have gotten a bit flat, try making up silly lyrics of your own. I realize that from a conventional, religious standpoint, suggesting this may be tantamount to heresy, but you and I know that people want to enjoy themselves during the holiday. So, do what it takes, within reason.