When is it Too Soon to Start Celebrating Christmas?
It’s the same story every year: you wake up on November 1st, and all the Halloween decorations have been replaced with Christmas ones, seemingly overnight. The quick transition from Halloween to Christmas has become somewhat of a joke in popular culture, with some celebrating the early arrival of Christmas celebration while others dread it. Everyone has their own personal reasons for why they choose to either accept or reject the early celebration of Christmas, however, the early celebration of Christmas can still raise some issues.
Of course, the most relevant argument to this topic is in regards to timing. Those against the early celebration of Christmas will likely argue in favor of delaying celebrations at least until after Thanksgiving, while the most extreme supporters of the holiday have been known to begin preparations as early as October. This raises the question: how soon is too soon?
Ultimately, Christmas is meant to be a very special time of the year. As a result, some may say that they want to get as much of that special feeling as they can before it’s over. However, part of what makes the holiday so special is the fact that it comes only once a year. With the early celebration of the holiday, some may feel like the excessive celebration ruins that aspect of the holiday. Because of the widespread celebration that this holiday receives, it is nearly impossible to go anywhere during the month of December without seeing at least a small nod to the holiday, and throughout November, many people begin the gradual transition to Christmas. As a result, there is almost no way to get a break from the Christmas celebration during this time of year, which can cause people to feel like it’s not as special.
Furthermore, the early celebration of Christmas often results in the loss of the fall aesthetic that comes from November. People often seem so eager to get to Christmas and winter that they often skip over the fall celebrations. November does have its own major holiday--Thanksgiving--but it is overshadowed by the impending Christmas celebrations that are sure to come in December.
As a whole, the month of November provides one last chance to celebrate the fall. Every season has its strengths, and everyone has different favorites, but one major advantage of the fall is its beauty. It is a time when the leaves are changing, and everything seems full of color. The weather, although starting to get chilly, has not yet gotten too cold, as it does in the winter. And, of course, fall has been known historically as being a time of harvest, meaning there’s plenty of good seasonal food. By skipping over November and going straight to Christmas, we lose the last chance we get to celebrate the fall.
Finally, there is the matter of who celebrates Christmas. With the extent to which Christmas seems to be celebrated during this time of year, it would seem as though Christmas were a universal holiday. Christmas is made to seem like a holiday that is celebrated by everyone, but that’s simply not the case.
Christmas is a religious holiday, celebrated primarily by those whose religions fall under the various branches of Christianity. However, there are people who belong to different religions, and some who don’t belong to any at all, meaning that they don’t celebrate Christmas, although many celebrate alternative holidays around the same time of year.
The overwhelming amount of attention that Christmas receives can result in those who don’t celebrate it feeling left out. During this time of year, there is almost no acknowledgement of people who don’t celebrate Christmas, and a minimal amount of recognition for those who celebrate alternative holidays. In stores, people will often find that nearly every aisle contains at least some acknowledgement of Christmas, and often entire sections of a store will be dedicated to only Christmas-related items. However, if you start looking for items related to other holidays, you may find nothing but a small section of Hanukkah-related items--and that’s if you’re lucky.
This isn’t to say that Christmas doesn’t deserve celebration. It can be a very fun holiday to celebrate, and it is undeniably a very special time of year. The problem is instead with the overwhelming extent to which Christmas is often celebrated. It’s important not to overlook the other things that can be just as fun to celebrate before Christmas comes along, and you may just find that waiting to celebrate makes Christmas more enjoyable. And, of course, it wouldn’t hurt to remember that not everyone celebrates Christmas, and acknowledge that other holidays exist.
