Bah Humbug?

by gloobster 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • gloobster
    gloobster

    My parents more or less disassociated themselves from the Borg when I was very young, and I kept going to the Hall with my grandpa, an elder, until I was about 13 or so. However, although my parents did not profess to be Jehovah's Witnesses any longer, they also did no move on to anything else--they were terrified of what their relatives and the JW's might think, and I don't know if they knew how to move on anyway. Anyway, I did not attempt to celebrate Christmas until I was living on my own, I think when I was 21.

    What I found out was, it had absolutely no meaning to me. Some friends who knew what I had been through have tried several times to make a nice Christmas for me, but I just couldn't get into it. I think I ended up going to a bar myself because I just had to get out. Since then, 10 years ago, I have tried various times to have some sort of Christmas celebration, and it just doesn't work. I have no feelings, good or bad about it. Just numbness. I've bought presents for people, helped decorate, and although I can feel the whole Christmasy buzz in the air, there always seems to be something wrong with it. I'm not trying to even bring up the materialistic side of it.

    Anyone have similar feelings they would like to share?

  • jamiebowers
    jamiebowers

    Do you have kids? If not, once you do, your feelings about Christmas may change. Also if you get involved with your community and help to make someone else's holiday special, it may mean more to you.

  • bbinkss
    bbinkss

    I have always celebrated Christmas ( never been a JW )..... But since my mid-teens the excitement of Christmas has faded for me and my family. We think this is because there are no children in the family. We just have a family day and keep the gifts to a reasonable level, it's a bit like a Sunday with extra fine food and gifts thrown in. Now should I ever have a baby it would be sooo different!

    For many people the fun of Christmas is mainly the preparation/build-up..... the day itself can be an anticlimax!

    Bbinkss x

  • Hortensia
    Hortensia

    It's mainly for children. I don't think adults need all those gifts! But adults get the excuse to have a party, eat too much good food and have some drinks with friends. I think that's fun, although I don't do the "eat too much good food" any more.

  • chickpea
    chickpea

    i dont think yours is an atypical response to the "holiday"
    sometimes i think the frenzy is a knee-jerk reaction....
    hardly anyone i have ever known was genuinely invested,
    just going thru the motions and emotions that seem
    rampant during the commercially fueled time period

    how many times to you hear
    "GOD! i hate christmas!"?

    my childhood affiliation was roman catholic
    and we had xmas as far back as i can remember...

    but also we had "visitation" with my father who
    was in med school in missouri and we lived in texas
    so it was a case of xmas eve with "mom's folks" and
    a red-eye flight to wake up xmas morning with "dad"
    so i guess i never really was attached to the holiday....

    we were assimilated when the older 2 kids were 4 and 1
    so there wasnt a lot of merirment in the family for nearly
    2 decades......

    now, my kids chose to get "into" christmas
    but i pretty much am a non-partisan observer....
    does next to nothing for me and tho i am courteous
    and receive a few gifts here and there, i dont "do" christmas presents

    i make sure that no one important in my life does not at some point
    throughout the year receive some recognition of my love and admiration....

    just isnt usually on a designated day
    (makes for some lovely surprises, i might add!)

  • gloobster
    gloobster

    Ok, cool. Just checking. I don't have any kids, and I strongly expected the "magic of Christmas" was a load of bull, but, you know. The one thing I always really hated was when people announced that it was my first Christmas. Which they seemed to do yearly. Around people I didn't know too well. Jerks! There will be a lump of coal in THEIR stockings!

  • Hortensia
    Hortensia

    my idea of a good christmas? Besides food, of course. a road trip - maybe San Simeon where the elephant seals are.

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