Why I don't Celebrate Holidays!

Ba Hum Bug! Perhaps I'm a bit of a scrooge, but I don't feel very enthusiastic about celebrating holidays! Perhaps it's the fact that these holidays seem to be forced upon us against our will year after year...whether we care to be involved or not? It's a ritual... Yes, a ritual created by man. We gather together to celebrate all kinds of supposed nice things. Yet, we also virtually drive ourselves mad trying to please everyone. Many of us go broke buying things we don't need and end up as debt slaves in the New Year! Quite the ritual eh? Okay, I don't mean to make the holiday season sound so miserable, but at this point in time "2019" we are dealing with massive consumerism and commercialism. So where did we go wrong?

For me it started in my childhood. I was raised Jewish by two atheist parents. My household was not religious in the least... nor spiritual for that matter! I was given the choice to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or both. It was really up to me. I can recall not being as mesmerized by the holidays as everyone else was. I've never been very materialistic. Receiving gifts wasn't so important to me. Perhaps it was because I never really got any presents that I wanted. Just a lot of socks and underwear! Perhaps one of my first experiences buying my mother a holiday gift rubbed me the wrong way?

As I recall, my elementary school was hosting a holiday sale one year. I excitedly purchased a pair of earrings for my mother. This may have been one of the first gifts I ever gave her. So she opens up the gift I got her and starts complaining about how I wasted my money. She couldn't wear the earrings because they were not real gold. Unbeknownst to me, my mother had very sensitive skin and couldn't wear costume jewelry earrings. I was very disappointed. But that was just the beginning!

As it turned out, year after year any gift I gave my mother was a bad gift and a waste of money. Even to this very day I'm better off not buying my mother anything because all she does is complain that I wasted my money! It made me feel terrible for years, but now I am used to her negative response. I've come to expect it and ignore it. My feelings don't get hurt anymore. I'm over it! This is just how my mother is. She's a natural born complainer and I accept it!

As I recall, my childhood was quite stressful and in reality all I really wanted was peace. Material presents were great and all... but peace of mind, feeling good... I was dealing with depression, anger, irritability and stress from an early age. Yes, I had inherited a mood disorder, and my family life was a bit tumultuous, which made celebrating holidays more and more upsetting for me as I grew older. The stress of the holiday season seemed to affect me in a bad way. It's not easy feeling bad when were supposed to be happy and celebrating! I can recall feeling depressed most of my life during the holiday season. Expectations were rarely met...so why have any expectations? I really didn't want to continue submitting to this bad feeling.

A few years back I had an exceptionally terrible holiday experience with my Dad's wife and her family which was the last straw for me. I decided that perhaps not celebrating holidays at all anymore is the answer! Well... for me it has been just that! Not celebrating anything I don't want to celebrate has been an immense blessing for me! And although I am an empath and I can feel everyone going crazy during the holiday season, and that energy does run through me, I can still keep a safe distance and remain isolated in my own peaceful space. It may sound lonely but it's actually not. I am never really alone even when I am!

No one should feel forced or obligated to engage in celebrating holidays if they don't want to. There is a great pressure placed upon each of us to conform to society's standards. We are told when to celebrate, how to celebrate and were expected to celebrate (whether we like it or not) when everyone else is celebrating. It's major programming. But you know what? Once I broke out of that programming... well, what a relief! No more depression, anxiety or stress! I make my own rules. If I want to buy someone a gift I will do so... If I don't than I won't. I do what I want to do... not what the world tells me to do. I celebrate when I feel like it. Everyday that my mind is free from the massive manipulation and programming is a holiday for me! Do what makes you happy! Wishing you all the best for a positive, peaceful and stress-free holiday season...whether you choose to celebrate or not!

Jennie H is a Reiki Master Energy Healer, Co-Founder of Self Saviorz Society California Non-Profit 501(c)(3), Poet, Author and Entertainer with goals to help raise the vibration and consciousness of humanity!