The 'C' word!
Christmas is a no-go zone in the Morse household before December.
It's a strange time of year for us, neither I or my husband are Christian's, we have no religion.
I'm as much a Christian as I am a Jew, a Muslim or Buddhist - I just happen to have been born in a country founded on Christian doctrine, where, even though the church and state were separated by the Magna Carta, still ties its national holidays and values to Christian ones.
Our families are a mix of believers: my mum considers herself a Christian (although she's not a churchgoer). My dad is best described as agnostic. My in-laws, although only ad-hoc and special occasion churchgoers, consider themselves Christians. Whereas, like me, my siblings have no religion. My husband's brother and his family, are however, practicing, churchgoing Christians.
For my husband's family, Christmas is a BIG deal! For his mum especially (and no one dares defy Mother Morse!).
My family, are much more chilled out about the whole affair, as long as we find a way to all get together and eat (always a favourite pastime in my family) they're happy. No one really cares if no cards or presents are exchanged. It’s all about food and booze induced merriment (whenever we get together, that's generally the plan)!
The merest half-joked suggestion of playing down the spending spree, going on holiday instead or NOT buying each other crap for the sake of having to buy stuff and feeding the commercial machine - is met with cool silences and narrow-eyed glares!
As a non-Christian, childless and independent couple, enjoying the festive frenzy proves to be a challenge for us.
It's the idea of 'forced fun' and 'social expectations' that doesn’t sit well with either of us. It sucks the joy from the whole process!
Because I'm naturally positive - (I can't help myself, I'll always make the best of things) - I'll tolerate the capitalistic BS, vomiting of sparkly plastic, tedious earworms of odious musak - for the opportunity to spend time with the people I love and skive off for a couple of weeks at the end of the year.
I'm also a Christmas birthday babe so I get extra excuses to drink Baileys, eat cake and wear a glittery frock!
My response to the excesses and wastage of Christmas is generally 'Thriftmas'.
I enjoy making hampers for gifts, with a mix of homemade goodies and shop bits, all packaged up to look expensive! It's a great excuse to make jam and get carried away buying ribbons and baskets!
As a non-Christian, for me, Christmas is about being grateful for what you have and the people in your life. That's what I celebrate.
It got me thinking...
If Christmas is about gratitude, then rather than the whole month of December being about commercial excess, it should be about being thankful.
In the run up to Christmas, I shall be sharing 1 thing a day that I'm grateful for, using the hashtag: #AdventGratitude
Will you join me?
Look out for updates on my Twitter and Instagram accounts.
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