I’ll be up front from the beginning: Christmas is not my favorite holiday.
In my house, it’s kind of stressful. My mom’s birthday is Christmas Eve and we have people over every year which means we spend hours cleaning the house and in the kitchen preparing for our evening.
Don’t get me wrong, I like our tradition. Many wonderful friendships and our bond as a family were built around this tradition.
But, all in all, I associate Christmas with stress of finding gifts (who to give to and what to give), fuss about gifts (is it good enough or not enough), etc. That’s not what Christmas is about, right?
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I love Christmas music so much, I listen to it all year long.
So I don’t love Christmas but I love Christmas music? To some, this doesn’t add up.
Of 2,909 songs currently on my iPod, 220 of them are of the Christmas variety. I have everything from Boys II Men to the Trans-Siberan Orchestra. I have Fall Out boy. I have Justin Bieber. You can add jingle bells to any song and call it a Christmas song.
I grin when my iPod is on shuffle and a Christmas song plays randomly. It changes my day because I remember the special memories that come during a certain time of the year.
When I listen to the music, I can smell the cinnamon-scented pine cones in my parents’ living room, feel the warmth from the wood-burning fire and the comfort of a leather couch.
The feeling of not having classes to attend or pay attention to the items on my to-do list can’t be beat. To me, it’s real bliss.
Some say it should played only after Thanksgiving, some say only a week before Christmas but I say if it’s July and you want to dance around to Mariah’s “All I want for Christmas is you” because you can’t wait to spend time with your family and friends without stress, who’s to say no? Because it’s six months too soon? Is it really ever ‘too soon’ to remember decorating your Christmas tree while sipping hot chocolate? Is it ‘too soon’ to start giving to the less fortunate?
No. Bring on the jingle bells and stop hating on those who want to be “holly jolly” all year round.
