Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room.
Nora Roberts
Well, here we are again, dear reader. Another Covid Christmas. Sigh. Didn’t we all hope and pray, to whatever Gods or Greater Powers seemed most accessible, that this would be over by now? And yet…here we are.
I can hear the sighs of resignation now. Another Christmas spent at home, with little to no visits to family and friends. Another season of giving celebrated by surreptitiously dropping off cards and cookies on loved ones porches, shouting seasons greetings from the end of the driveway. Another slate of Santa photos featuring weirdly socially distanced kids sitting 6-feet-and-a-pane-of-glass away from the big man himself (although, lets be honest, the kids might prefer this version…).
When it seemed like the rabid hunger of the virus was abating just in time for the holidays, in comes Omicron like the proverbial Grinch here to steal our Christmas cheer.
But, here’s a thought, what if we do as those lovely Whos down in Whoville and not let the green ruffian ruin our holidays? Understanding that I myself am in a very privileged position as both my husband and I are employed in low-risk, little-to-no contact jobs and have a sturdy roof over our heads…I ask again: What if Christmas could still be filled with cheer and goodwill and Christmas Carols sung with voices clear and bright?
For those of you who find Christmas a hard time of year, I have no advice but I do send you so much love. I hope that maybe, just maybe, after everything we have gone through this year, the universe might grant you the peace you so well deserve.
But for the rest of you, myself included, who look forward to the holidays every year, this may yet be a tough one. But all is not lost.
As we have been taught throughout this pandemic, so many of us have been running on empty for so many years spurred on by the insane pace of the modern world. Expected to be always on, always smiling, always saying yes to everything, the one blessing (too strong a word?) of the pandemic has been that it has shown us another way. And dare I say it, a better one.
Maybe we don’t have to sit in traffic for hours every day, leaving the house at an ungodly hour and arriving home well past dinner, for a job we may or may not even enjoy? Maybe we don’t have to be constantly sprinting on the wheel of consumerism destined to run the rat race until we can run no more. Maybe home is enough. Maybe our loved ones are enough. Maybe WE are enough. As we are.
Maybe, just maybe, this Christmas season, inevitably less busy than years past due to the ever-present Covid menace, can be one of reflection and warmth. Of taking the time to write heartfelt cards to our near and dear. Of getting around the supply chain shortages by supporting local businesses and, by extension, making their owners’ Christmases merry indeed. Maybe we can spend more days curled up on the couch watching Christmas movies with hot chocolate instead of rushing out to spend money we don’t have on a Christmas gift for our 7th secret Santa whom we barely even know.
Maybe, just maybe, it won’t be so bad after all.
Because if I have learnt anything from the shocking amount of cheesy Christmas movies I have watched already this year it’s this: all one needs to enjoy Christmas is warmth, love, and kindness.
Three things Covid cannot take away from us.
Oh, and if it’s your thing, a tree decorated with pretty lights doesn’t hurt either.
I’m going to take the rest of the year off from blogging to refocus and hopefully plan some posts ahead of time for the new year but, until I’m back…remember:
Life is beautiful
Wishing you and yours a safe and peaceful holiday season.
xo Erin
Erin of the Hills 
This is a wonderful and beautiful post Erin. I love your positivity. Wishing you and yours all the magic of the Season. Enjoy the blog break. 💕🎄
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment, Faye, it is so much appreciated. Definitely trying to stay positive through all the ups and downs of the season! Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season. I’ll be taking some time during my blog break to catch up on some of your posts!
Hi Erin. You’re very welcome. Stay on the positive side of sanity. All the best for a Happy, Merry and Festive Season.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas. It’s so important to keep your positive attitude through these really hard and uncertain times
Thanks for reading, Jenny! Our Christmas was quiet but lovely, and our little one is too young to remember the isolation going forward thank goodness. She definitely helps up keep our hopes up with her natural energy and curiosity. Wishing you a beautiful holiday season and a happy new year!
To be fair, I 𝘥𝘪𝘥 learn to cook and bake during this pandemic. I figured that I should learn to feed myself better if I’m going to be home all the time. Of course, baking desserts isn’t necessarily eating healthy, lol. Anyway, wishing you a great New Year’s, regardless of the state of the pandemic 🙂
That is an excellent use of this pandemic-induced isolation! I have definitely been baking more as well… a lot more. Learning new skills AND providing ourselves with comfort food! I’d say that’s an achievement. Happy New Year to you as well!
I enjoyed your post Erin – the positivity, the literary/cultural references, the shortbread cookies (the closest I got to them this year), and the photos. I too have found blessings – the silver linings in the covid storm clouds – in slowing down and rethinking consumerism. Like Stuart Danker, I spent more time learning new recipes that excite the taste buds and some of those dishes that have become my new ‘go-to’s.
Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to comment! I’m glad to hear you have been able to find some silver linings in this dark cloud that is Covid. We will all get through this and, hey, if we take some new delicious recipes with us to the other side – so much the better!