To Bah, or Not to Bah.

'So this is Christmas' sang John Lennon and, sure enough, the great wheel of time has rolled round to the festive season once again. Christmas is as inevitable as death and taxes and every year there is an important dilemma to face' to bah humbug or not to bah humbug, that is the question?

My Dearly Beloved's birthday falls right on top of Christmas. She made it absolutely clear from the start of our relationship that she was having no truck with this joint birthday and Christmas present malarkey. Consequently, we celebrate both days separately which is great as it spreads the festivities over two days. There's no chance of bah humbugging in our Buckinghamshire hideout. 

There are advantages to bah humbugging. You can avoid the blatant commercialism designed to part you from your cash, you won't be disheartened when your goodwill gesture is not reciprocated. It's not going to be a disappointment when your family fall out and ruin the cosy atmosphere. Mostly, you won't be surprised when a Christmas miracle showing the world as a magical place and the essential goodness of human nature doesn't occur. You can enjoy being smug that your cynicism is proved accurate once again. There is a lot to be said for bah humbugging. 

The problem is that is comes around whether you like it or not. You can choose to play along and turn a blind eye to the hypocrisy, or, you can try and ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away as quickly as possible. Fate doesn't take time off during holidays. Nasty things happen at Christmas and some people's festivities are overshadowed by memories of loss and tragedy. Such people can be forgiven for bah humbugging but for most of us there is a choice whether to join in and party or, like the Grinch, go off and hide somewhere.

It seems to me that you get out what you put in. The more effort you make to engage with people the better time you'll have. Christmas is about people, not things. Personally, I think all the shops should be closed boxing day to allow people more time with families but unfortunately, money talks. For all its faults Christmas is fundamentally a good thing and personally, I am glad it comes round, life would be much duller without the brightness of Christmas to punctuate the years.