Christmas. A time of festive cheer and joy. A time for us to all come together and be jolly for the holidays. Yet in recent times it seems Christmas has been tainted by people who seem to be unaware of when December begins.
Perhaps these people cannot understand a calendar or perhaps they simple don’t know the period this wonderful time is supposed to fall into. However, the misplacing of Christmas is getting stupidly out of hand. At this rate we will be giving children Christmas Crackers for Halloween and ‘decking the halls’ in September. How did we end up in this shambolic state?
Colchester’s Christmas decorations in the city centre were set up well before they should have and were officially lit up in the middle of November. Many residents also seemed to get prematurely wrapped up in the Christmas spirit as many decorations were visible as early as the first of November.
Now I have nothing against Christmas. I personally love the holidays. But it is simply a unique time of year and when people foolishly try to extend it we end up becoming sick of it by the time to day comes around. By prolonging the Christmas season we end up ruining the speciality it contains. What was once a special short time of the year is becoming an agonising long three month celebration.
The more we drag it out the more it becomes as empty as most times of the year. It seems people are either oblivious to the fact we are losing something special or they find it so special they try to make this brief period of joy last as long as possible.
And whilst some seem to bizarrely enjoy this ‘early-Xmas’, there are also many who roll their eyes and find it an utterly useless idea. I spoke to a Colchester resident who when I questioned about early Christmas celebrations they described it as a “great shame” and “a sad sight because many seem to be forgetting the true meaning of Christmas”. And sadly they are very much right.
In all the modern chaos of Christmas, people seem to have lost their way. People seem to forget it is a time of great difficulty for some, a time for togetherness, a time for unity and a time for family.
It now seems to be all about who has the nicest tree and who has the most obnoxious set of lights flailing from their roof. The Christmas spirit has truly been poisoned by modern society. And it isn’t just when people put up their decorations but it also seems to be the decorations themselves.
Once upon a time, a nice tree would satisfy the many. But apparently these days that isn’t enough. Now houses are masked in an array of multi-coloured lights that hardly feel festive at all. Lights seem to have to flicker and flash as if the house is begging to stand out from the rest. Gigantic inflatables of snowmen become an eyesore and a person’s place of residency becomes a horror to look at. And yet all this is apparently the ‘spirit of Christmas’.
However I do have a small understanding and sympathy for these people who want to prolong the Christmas time. It is when families come together and everything just feels a little more happier. And I assume people who start Christmas early just wish for the world to be the little bit more jolly for a little bit longer. Alas though this just ruins the wonder of the time and will eventually ruin the joy altogether.
And this is all this people getting sucked into the modern Christmas. Traditions have been thrown in the bin and eagerly replaced with tacky overtop decorations. What was once a joyous occasion is now a painfully long slog. A true ‘British-Christmas’ seems to be far away and it has become oversaturated and over-commercialised to the brink of collapse. And with the early placement of Colchester’s official Christmas decorations only adding fuel to the fire.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. As the actual correct festive season is now visible in the horizon we can soon get excited for Christmas. And if you have a friend who does seem to prematurely celebrate the holidays then perhaps consider gifting them a calendar. It might be exactly what they need!
