By now, you have seen a few Christmas lights up, some Christmas sales and a few things jolly and red. However, you may be thinking “Didn’t Halloween just happen yesterday?” or “Are we just skipping Thanksgiving?” or even “Whoever plays “Last Christmas” again won’t live to see this one!” I get it. We’ve all been there. You might even be that one person who plays Christmas music before Oct. 31.
According to societal norms, the holiday season doesn’t even officially start until after Halloween. What I’m saying is that the soonest I should see a glimmer of shiny red globes hung on deep green garlands is Nov. 1, and even that’s too soon because of Thanksgiving.
I’m all for a joyous Noel, but we have a whole harvest and gratitude festival in three weeks that we have to get to first. I mean, why in the world are we singing “Deck the Halls” when my stomach has yet to be filled with turkey, stuffing and my mom’s homemade orange cranberry sauce? I think that the over-anticipation of Christmas just really throws off how special and meaningful Thanksgiving should be.
I get that some people think that we shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving because of how cruelly the Native Americans were treated. Many Natives were mistreated, but those at Plymouth were just looking for a place where they could serve God the way they thought was best. They also befriended the Natives who helped them learn how to farm in the New World. So why are we ignoring a holiday built on the foundations of serving God, friendship and gratitude for the blessings that we receive?
Any reasonable person would agree at this point, that we should be waiting until Black Friday to tell our girlfriends and boyfriends that “All I Want for Christmas is You.” And if you’re single, you don’t like being reminded that you are alone during the holidays (especially because your mother has probably already reminded you).
But allow me to play Devil’s Advocate as well.
Christmas music takes a long time to prepare. For example, the School of Music is doing an opera for our Christmas program this year. Each of the five principals and their understudies have been practicing and memorizing their parts since this summer. I have been singing Christmas music since July. Literally. And I’m still not tired of it.
Even the Christmas albums that you love blasting on the radio when Dec. finally hits were put into production at least six months ago. Songs have to be written or arranged, they have to be learned by the artists recording them (30+ hours of practice for each song, people, which is no easy feat), they have to be recorded, mastered, produced, advertized and released on multiple platforms. There is a ton of work put into Christmas music, and people in the music world typically start listening and preparing as soon as summer for Christmas, yet people complain about hearing and seeing Christmas related things in October? It’s not that big of a deal. Trust me. It’s totally normal and not at all odd.
Christmas is a big holiday. Probably the biggest in the world. It is celebrated in most countries under various names and with different traditions depending on your family and culture. It is the the massive holiday--a giant of holidays, if you will--for several reasons: people love giving and receiving gifts, there’s great religious significance to the holiday and it’s generally a time of togetherness for a lot of families across the world. There’s literally a song called “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” It’s significant, yet we complain when we see or hear Christmas related paraphernalia sooner than we would like.
Some people anticipate the Christmas holiday because of all these reasons and more. Who are we to judge them? Why should they feel embarrassed to anticipate a little joy in their lives?
To be fair, some people really do not like hearing Christmas music before their own arbitrary date, but some will listen to it literally at any time of the year, and there are many in between too. Let’s just agree that the Christmas music isn’t that a huge deal. Live your life your way. Have Christmas in July or place it firmly in December. Happy Holidays, everyone.
Image credit: Mariah Ashby