Why I think Christmas should stay OUT of November

I feel like lately everyone is either all "YAY CHRISTMAS!" or "OH MY GOODNESS TOO SOON FOR CHRISTMAS!" and it's getting a bit old. I mean, I get it. I've definitely been saying "Too soon" on any Christmas-related post that my friends have put out on the internet, or liking silly pictures of turkeys yelling at Santa, or telling my Christmas-"obsessed" roommate about snarky pins that say "For every Christmas tree lit in November, an elf drowns a baby reindeer" because I really think it is too soon. But part of me feels like a cynical jerk (and let's be honest, that pin is a cynical jerk-type pin) because Christmas is great.

Christmas is great because its original purpose is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I get that Biblical scholars think that Jesus was actually born in, like, August or something, and that there's no exact date (to our knowledge) but December 25th is when we all decided to stop our lives and say "Hey, Jesus left heaven and came to earth. That is pretty stinkin' cool." But I think our American culture has taken what was supposed to be a religious celebration and made it into a secularized, money-spending, magic-filled frenzy. And that is the Christmas that I see getting blasted in our faces in November.

Seriously. Christmas wouldn't even be a discussion if stores didn't start advertising and putting out decorations as early as October. It's not about Christ anymore. It's all about presents and glitter and traditions and getting all snuggle-y while roasting chestnuts. The music and the culture and the movies and the warm fuzzies surrounding the holiday have turned it into an ideal. An ideal that seems rather unlikely. For instance, there's this idea that there is supposed to be snow on Christmas, and if there isn't, then it's not *magical.* But, living where I've lived, I can probably count on one hand the number of white Christmases I've seen. 5 or less out of 19 does not a passing grade make. A white Christmas, among all the other hoopla that our culture promotes, is not realistic. Sure, some parts of the country see white Christmases, but what about Floridians or people living in Arizona? These unrealistic expectations, like most of the lies we're sold, are just that: unrealistic lies.

I guess it just bothers me that people get so swept away in the "feelings" of Christmas. And it bothers me that I get swept away too. This year especially I've found myself really just wanting Thanksgiving.

It's a great time to get the family together (without all the eggnog-induced hype) and just be a family. It's a great time to reflect on the majority of the year and see all that you have to be thankful for. My generation especially seems to suffer from entitlement complexes, a need for instant gratification, and a pathos-centered way of living. Out of anyone in the nation, I think my generation and those coming after us especially need a time in life where everything just s l o w s  d o w n and people are thankful. A time where people just count their blessings, where they literally stop and think about all of the good in their lives.

We seem to be so negative as a whole. It's discouraging. I think Thanksgiving is awesome because it kind of shoves it in our faces that WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL. It gives us the opportunity to be thankful. And it's not like it's weird (not that being thankful should ever be weird, but I could see it potentially turn into something that people would scoff at or consider insincere) because it's a holiday. It's a real thing. Also, it's the beginning of the start of America. That's pretty cool too, I think. As much as I've been guilty of anti-patriotic cynicism, I am thankful that I live in a country that allows me to have that cynicism. And on that ironic note, I now end this post. The end.