I think I've finally learned the secret to Christmas: ignore it and treat it like any other day. Most Christmases I feel sad and end up crying about how far away my family is and how much I'd like to be with them. Not this Christmas! This Christmas I decided to enjoy the day as though it were a special holiday from work (which it was).
I went for a 2-3 hour hike which was lovely. When I got home I baked my special muffins and called my family. They had just finished opening presents and were sitting around checking out their loot. I managed to talk to all 6 relatives in less than 22 minutes. (Censored). In the afternoon I went to see a showing of American Gangster at the Academy. You can't beat a $2 matinee! American Gangster was fantastic! I am really glad I saw it at a theater. It's nearly 3 hours and my DVD ADD would have prevented me from getting into it at home. I followed the movie with a nice stroll around my neighborhood, talked to Z and then got into a My So-Called Life marathon (man is that a good show!).
This was a completely unremarkable day. I realize this sounds like the lamest, most lonely day ever but with everything else that's going on now it was nice to have a non-day. I spent it like I spend most of my days off. There's a lot of pressure around Christmas to be with your happy loving family and if you aren't or if they're not happy and loving you kind of feel like a loser. If you just go about your day and enjoy it for what it is, things roll a bit more smoothly. I wish I had learned this 10 years ago!
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