Not much. Didn’t grow up with it, and trying to celebrate it when I’m older without kids or parents is weird. It’s time off work for me and not much more.

I love Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Opportunities to spend quality time with family are hard to come by these days, but it’s just as important as ever. I also like the core message of “the holiday spirit”, but not the gross consumerism it has been turned into. Love your brethren, peace on earth, and all that good old fashioned shit. Fuck yeah!

Of course it’s a very hard time of year for people without family or loved ones, and for people with emotional issues. I sympathize with those people. I’ve been one of those people at various points of my life. My mom gets super depressed every Christmas because it reminds her of a bunch of shit I don’t want to share on Lemmy. So I’m sorry that it’s hard for you. You do matter. Merry Christmas.

Capitalist holiday preserved by corporate to sell shit

I very much hate christmas. Having a specific day to give everyone something is stupid. We already have everything we want (that’s not too expensive to be a gift), and even if there’s something special, christmas ruins it by being expected. In my family we finally managed to drop the charade after grandma died. Sadly, gonna be celebrating christmas with my GF’s family, and so far I’ve been unsuccessful in making them understand that I don’t want shit from them.

Christmas is just a giant collection of obligations that leaves us all worse off. Like getting and advent calendar, everyone gets mad when I skip days, just because I don’t care about Christmas. In my country we also have 3 days where all stores are closed for it. Great shit…

I’m not religious so it’s just a cultural holiday. It used to be a time for family gatherings. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, etc. Most times I felt it was a pain in the ass. Now they are all dead and gone. In retrospect I wish I had taken more time to enjoy those family get togethers.

None of these holidays have any meaning.

I work in education. Christmas time is so much better with kids. It feels empty without some 9-y-o bouncing off the walls and telling you all the things he wants for Christmas.

Fuck Christmas.

Time off work with holiday pay, If you’re lucky.

Otherwise it’s a capitalism thing to buy stuff to make companies money.

No. My mom has always worked holidays, and so have I (once I was old enough). We would celebrate around it, but pulled back as I got older. I’m at a job that’s just closed this holiday, and it’s just a day off for me. 🤷🏿‍♀️

I think as far as holidays go, it’s pretty decent:

• I get some work free time.
• It’s a distraction from the fact that there’s no fucking daylight which makes me miserable.
• I get some gifts and give some gifts. It’s not about their material worth but it’s cool that people actively try make someone else happy. We don’t do that everyday.
• There is a lot of colorful lights. I love colorful lights.
• I get a lot of time to hyperfixate on some kind of programming / linuxing computer stuff. Maybe gaming.

I feel like a lot negatives of Christmas don’t affect me because: I don’t watch TV or ads, don’t go much to shops or any public places for that matter, I don’t really use social media outside of Lemmy. Also, I don’t have a big extended family.

I don’t like winter in general but Christmas is ok. I try not to put any demands on anyone, and only do what I can, but have worked at a place that closes for a week at Christmas, and that has made it a lot easier, getting an actual holiday for the holiday instead of scrambling to put it together.

You have not failed, you are alive, you are successful at living by definition. If someone at the holidays is making you feel unsuccessful, that’s mean. If it’s just you feeling it, though, they may not feel the same way. My kids LOVE unmarried aunts & uncles and I loved mine too. You are free to love them without responsibility, more like a friend and that is something kids can really use.

In the end, it’s just a holiday - most of us aren’t religious, it’s a get together time, some presents, a meal. When my kids were up northish, they said winter really was depressing because of the lack of sunlight, they had not realized that was a real phenomenon and were startled by how it made them feel. So be aware you may be feeling worse than usual just because of that, not seeing clearly or objectively.

I used to has Xmas after becoming an adult because what it stood for, for me, was a bunch of shit : capitalism, using a fake demi god to discipline your kids, and a zombie demi god it’s supposed to be dedicated to when we decorate trees which come from the religions that were stomped into hiding.

But I started to realize that winter fucking sucks. It’s depressing as fuck. It made me realize that we need holidays in the winter to help us get through it. There is joy in company if you can look past minor shit and flaws of family, and if you can’t then there is the company of friends. Holidays are a reminder that we thrive best in communities and it’s a chance to reconnect.

So whether you decide to celebrate that gathering by decorating a plastic tree or by having a hedonistic feast or even an orgy, do something for the holidays that mean something to you.

Divorced parents. A latter childhood of “equal time” over the holidays. Hoopla so forced and weird, it was a caricature of itself.

No, I really avoid a lot of the hoopla in Christmas and everything else. And I like quiet celebrations at home. My best Christmas was my first year H1B-ing in Jersey and my gf came to visit all the way from home. No money, with her tuition and schooling so high, we sat around and watched TV and journeyed over the PATH to see the sights. It was magical (because she is).

I’m a Baha’i, so I just celebrate Ayyam I Ha. It’s at the end of Feb so I can take advantage of the after Christmas sales. The Ayyam I Ha Camel can apparently carry more loot than Santa’s Sleigh