If you had to guess any random person’s favorite holiday, there’s a good chance that you would guess Christmas, because the fact of the matter is that Christmas is one of the most popular holidays around. There are plenty of reasons for this general sentiment, ranging from the gifts that people receive to the constant stream of Christmas music that always puts you into a happy mood no matter what you are doing. The Christmas decorations themselves also engender such feelings of joy and happiness as soon as you see them. However, I may be in the minority when it comes to the actual act of putting up the decorations themselves – I love Christmas decorating almost more than the actual display of decorations themselves.
Although putting up decorations is definitely fairly demanding work, especially in my house where we cover the entire outside of the house in Christmas lights, and also cover much of the inside with countless decorations as well. And I totally get why people would not find any joy in taking part in such physical activity. But for me, I find joy in the fact that Christmas brings so much excitement and happiness in my life that I am totally willing to go through with all of that work in the spirit of the holiday. Put another way, I wouldn’t be so happy about putting up let’s say Valentine’s Day decorations (assuming that were a thing) compared to Christmas simply because the holiday itself doesn’t have as much meaning for me. In other words, because of how much pure joy the holiday of Christmas gives me, I am able to find joy in even the mundane aspects of the holiday, in this case Christmas decorating.
But there’s another reason I love Christmas decorating and that is because doing so brings me closer to my family. Yes, Christmas is often a time for gathering as a family in general, whether it is opening presents on Christmas morning, or going out for Christmas dinner. But that family time is not necessarily as intimate as it could be. Said another way, those gatherings can often be superficial, simply because gathering in those ways have certain expectations associated with them. Conversations rarely ever scratch the surface, which limits how strong of a connection you can make with your family members during this special holiday season. However, when you get away from the stereotypical Christmas gatherings, you often dive into deeper conversations and really connect on a strong personal level. For me at the very least, these sorts of conversations happen when doing Christmas decorating. And while these conversations aren’t necessarily noteworthy in terms of the content, I at least know that they are truly coming from the heart, which means so much to me.
Although Christmas most definitely encompasses many different elements, people should not neglect the value of the very act of Christmas decorating. It not only validates the Christmas holiday as a whole by showing just how much effort we are willing to put forth to help invoke the Christmas spirit, but perhaps more importantly it brings us closer to family through genuine heart-to-heart conversations.