Holidays - How do you feel?

by pratt1 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  pratt1

  As holiday time approaches, many of us ex dubs have mixed feeling going on in our head.

  Are you happy and excited because now you can celebrate the holidays with family (maybe) and friends, or are you depressed or just ambivialent about the whole thing?

  It took my a few years just to feel comfortable wishing someone a happy holiday, and a few more years before I actually celebrated a holiday.

  Now I celebrate every holiday, and I am always excited about the event, although I don't place any spiritually/religious meaning towards the event and I just enjoy the chance to socialize with family and friends.

  What about you?
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  Purza

  I don't place any religious/spiritual relevance to the holidays either. For me it is just about time I spend with my family and about giving. It gives me much joy to see my daughter try to figure out what is under the tree for her -- even though she is almost an adult (technically). This will be my 4th year of having a tree, and I always feel a bit strange at first -- but I quickly get past that.

  Last year we hit Target the day after christmas and we have so much crap to put on our front lawn, I am not sure there is enough room.

  Happy Holidays pratt1!

  Purza
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  LeslieV

  It took me awhile since I am holiday challenged. I had no idea how to put up a Christmas Tree, or what birthday candles to use. Once I got the swing of it I love it. Since all my family are JW's, I have made new traditions with my kids.

  

  Leslie
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  Dagney

  I am excited for this time of year even though I am "holiday challenged" also. LOL. (Last night at a lovely birthday dinner, singing "Happy Birthday" is still an "out of body" experience.)

  I love that this is a time bought out of the whole year that culturally and traditionally we think of others. I love that families and friends get together and are festive. I enjoy planning activities, menus and getting together with others.

  It's a great time of year.
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  pratt1

  Happy HHolidays to you guys as well.

  I just stated on another thread, that I had a girlfriend whose father thought it was weird that I didn't celebrate the holidays with my family.

  When I final came clean and told him about my JW past, he never liked me and warned his daughter that I was not husband material.

  He was right although I and his daughter disagreed with him at the time.

  I eventually married another ex dub, it made everything much easier... no explaining about our neurosis's.
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  Quandry

  Mixed feelings. First time tree this year. It is artificial but has those little colored lights on it. My daughter is twenty and very excited. We all have a stocking hung at the fireplace. Even the two cats have one, each shaped like a fish. The tree skirt has snowmen on it. Very cute. The cats get into everything....

  I always thought the lights around the neighborhood were beautiful. Maybe next year we'll get those.

  Scary going shopping. What to get?
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  bem

  The first couple years after leaving the JWs I/we didn't as a family decorate, shop, send cards nothing! then we asked why not?

  I do not have a religious affection for the holiday, I'm all about the lights and tree and giving, make an extra effort to be more of what I am all year long 'happy' I agree it's a really cool time for us to all be together as a family. We do everything we want to now, guilt and shame free and we are loving it. All of it from putting up lights to shopping in the after christmas sales, and we're loving it.
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  beksbks

  I absolutely love the holidays. I get into it more than most of my "worldly" friends. To me it's a celebration of love, peace, family, food, winter. I love the smells and the lights and............. well everything.
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  blondie

  We celebrate in a small way. I am inactive so our decorations stay inside except for the lighted snowmen and other snowmen decorations. 5 years of snowmen and no visit that I am celebrating Christmas. Of course I leave the snowmen up until the snow is gone. Nothing pagan about snowmen.

  *** g90 4/22 p. 23 Faith Helped Me Face Brain Surgery ***My daughter, Bethel, was a gift from God rather late in life. We had a kind of storybook relationship. From the time Bethel was an infant, we did everything together. We crouched in fields to study Jehovah God’s artistic flair as we looked at the wildflowers. We made snowmen.

  *** g74 7/22 p. 21 Some of Their Happiest Memories ***Most children enjoy playing and being with other children. One young woman remembers: "My happiness as a child was centered on playing outside. We had so much fun. In the winter, we looked forward to the snow. We’d get out the sleds for racing downhill; we’d make snowmen and throw snowballs.
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  sweetstuff

  Scary going shopping. What to get?

  Oh there is so much to get Quandry! Scented candles, a gingerbread house kit (my girls and I make one every year, they love it!), Christmas fairs are a great place to shop around and look for something that really catchs your eye, like a beautiful wreath. I love the holidays! I'm like a little kid, he he. Making up for lost time I suppose. It took me a few years to collect alot of my xmas orniments, but within a few years, you can have a great collection of beautiful things, that will last for years to come.

  I don't view the holidays as a religious celebration either, but the way I see it, if people do and it causes them to be kinder, happier and generally at peace, for even one day, its a positive thing. I sure don't miss going in service on Xmas day, haha! I think about it now and wonder how we didn't get punched in the face, really must the be the christmas cheer.