‘Tis (already) the season! Celebrate the holidays early to cope with Trump stress | Opinion
When it comes to Christmastime I’m no Ebenezer Scrooge, nor am I the Grinch (at the end of the movie), but I can’t remember the last time I threw myself into the holiday season quite so wholeheartedly as I have this year.
I put up my Christmas tree on Nov. 10 (It’s pink! With disco ball ornaments!) and I put up lights on my house a few days later. I taped a bunch of multi-colored twinkle lights to my cubicle in the newsroom and then I did it to some of my co-workers’ desks too, just for good measure. I’ve packed my social schedule with holiday parties, home decorating, cookie-baking, gift-making and bad-Christmas-movie-watching nearly every night this month.
Why? Because after that bruising election season, I need some gosh darn, good ol’ fashioned holiday cheer this year.
I’ll tell you what, too: It’s been working. I feel a lot better.
And as it turns out, I’m not the only one using the holidays and blatant consumerism as a coping mechanism. Plenty of other Americans are feeling the Christmas spirit early this year, and I think it’s because we’re holding on tight to the last vestiges of normalcy before we have to face the grim reality of 2025.
Spending is up, even if moods are down
Last night, while watching another bad Christmas movie and reading various articles about the incoming Trump Administration, I consoled myself by adding items to my Amazon shopping cart. Even though I can’t afford to buy any of it right now, it made me feel like a little kid filling out a wish list for Santa Claus. (Though in this case, Santa looks an awful lot like my local Amazon delivery person.)
Americans have always loved buying things as a coping mechanism, but this year, despite our concerns about the economy, we’re taking it to the next level.
Matthew Shay, chief executive of the National Retail Federation, said the economy “looks much more like a pre-pandemic economy in terms of the spending patterns and the growth,” on a recent call with reporters.
The National Retail Federation forecasted that 2024’s winter holiday spending is expected to grow between $979.5 billion and $989 billion in November and December, compared with $955.6 billion over the same period last year.
A recent Gallup poll found that Americans intend to spend an average of $1,024 on the 2024 holidays, substantially up from $923 in 2023.
This year, you may have even noticed Christmas competing for space on the shop floors right next to the Halloween display. Online retailer Amazon pushed Prime Day into early October, a consumer event often seen as the unofficial start to the holiday season.
It’s not going to stop this year, either: Market research firm Prophecy Market Insights projected the Christmas decoration industry will grow from $8.45 billion this year to $13.04 billion in the next decade.
Midwinter hope springs eternal
Midwinter has always been a time of deep depression. It’s practically coded into our human DNA to feel a little bit sad this time of year. Gift-giving isn’t the only way we can make ourselves feel a little bit better.
Traditionally speaking, humankind’s midwinter celebrations — be it Christmas or Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Yule, the winter solstice, Candlemas or Dongzhi — have always been about giving people a sense of hope and of community. We need that emotional boost to make it through the darkest, coldest days.
These celebrations are always about rituals and tradition, feasting together and making new connections. Even the tradition of bringing in greenery to our homes — like mistletoe, wreaths and trees — reminds us that hope still exists even when the world is at its most bleak.
So I think if you want to put up your Christmas tree early this year, go ahead and do it.
Go all out on lights and decorations. Make your living space feel like the coziest, happiest place in the world right now. Celebrate the season by giving to one another — it doesn’t matter if it’s homemade or you bought it from Jeff Bezos. Celebrate this time by caring about your neighbors and friends and make it a holiday season to remember. Don’t let the Scrooges and Grinches get you down.
We’ve had enough negativity recently to last us for a while... and we know plenty is coming our way again soon enough.
Maybe if we light up our world for now, we can make it through the bleakest days to come — no matter what time of the year it is — and keep the holiday spirit going for as long as possible.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 10:56 AM.
