#15 What Do You Think Of Christmas Traditions?

I must admit, I have a mixed relationship with traditions and everything traditional. It started with "all traditions are good and should be preserved" and then slowly changed to "most traditions are boring and lack any soul". But it might be just me.

I write about this again because it's the Christmas season now. We all run around like crazy to buy presents and ingredients to prepare the best (or biggest) meals of the year that will be shared with family, friends, and maybe colleagues. 

My grudge with Christmas is that it became a complete commercial special/nightmare. It's not uncommon that I see less love and affection at Christmas than during the year, just because everyone is so focused on presents and looking perfect that they get stressed out of their normal self. All that buying is killing the spirit, frankly. Also, the over-eating habit we developed in Western countries is just wrong and not serving anyone except people who sell the food (mostly unhealthy food anyway) and fitness trainers in January. 

I will admit that Christmas has a special place. on my traditions list because it was a great time of the year when I was little. I'd always look forward to it - no surprise, since I had to do nothing and got all the benefits. We'd have big family visits, dinners, and lunches, way fewer presents, way more people and food. We'd also often go to the mountains for New Year's Eve, and there was always snow, skis, and fun. And some new people as well. 

Most of the other traditions are fun for the first or second time, and then I'm done with them, but not Christmas. 

It's interesting that most people and friends agree that Christmas got out of hand with commercialism and "I must buy the right present" frenzy, but when we tried to make it easier on ourselves by e.g. setting budget limits on presents, saying no more than one present allowed or saying no purchased presents allowed this year, it never really worked or lasted. 

I'm always thinking - why tf is that?

Because I dabble in behavioral economics, I know why :( It's because the crowd sets the "standard" for all of us. It's not that the five of us can't agree, but each person then meets a hundred colleagues and friends who are all looking for an explanation of "this weird idea," and wherever you go, you see people shopping. The worst part - when you are not looking for presents, you see them everywhere. "He'd like this, and she'd like that", happens exactly when you are not looking for it. 

So that's my Christmas rant. Done!

What about you and Christmas traditions? Which are your favorite and which have you changed?

Let me know on Farcaster! Or find me on Twitter/X or LinkedIn!

Till tomorrow! 🤠