Ah, Christmas. It’s that time of year when goodwill prevails and all kinds of gifts are purchased with such wild abandon. I, however, am happy we don’t take part in Christmas anymore; El Franco and I made the decision a few years ago to stop buying presents, cards, or an excess of food (quite a bit of which usually gets thrown away) and drink, and just drop out of the whole commercial aspect altogether. Now, we don’t plan for any celebration at all during the holiday season. It’s completely secular and non-commercial for us and it feels great! We contacted family and friends a long time ago and told them enough is enough and, surprisingly, most people were actually relieved, as it took away the burden of their having to buy something for us.
One of the things I like to do most on Christmas Day is go for a walk in the eerily quiet streets in the neighbourhood and find a rare, open café and sit down with a good book. I love how peaceful it is out in the streets on this day. There’s a calmness and a solitude rarely experienced on any other day, and it’s a pleasure not to have to run around preparing food for guests. I know, I know; it’s nice to have guests and to revel in the companionship and sense of belonging that follows from having family and friends around, but not having to go through that whole preparation thing anymore far outweighs the perceived benefits of entertaining folk at home. Even going to other people’s homes at this time of year, to celebrate Christmas, eventually became a bind.
Call me a killjoy, but I for one am looking forward to another non-eventful Christmas this year.
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I was born in England, spent