COMMENT: Rethinking the way we do Christmas

LET’S face it, Christmas isn’t for everyone.

A question that crops up a lot in the weeks leading up to it, be it in the hairdresser’s chair, bumping into a neighbour in the shops, at the checkout, or at the school gate is: “How are you fixed, do you like Christmas?”

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The answers usually fall into two camps. There are those who reply instantly, “I love it,” before listing lights, food, family and that festive magic. And then there are those who say, just as firmly, “I hate it,” and feel no need to explain further.

Recently on the Brendan O’Connor radio show when comedian Tommy Tiernan was asked if he likes Christmas, “Ah, not really,” he said. Pressed on why, he admitted he wasn’t sure we’re “doing it right”.

All the ingredients are there, he suggested, but something feels “off key”. He wondered aloud whether it has become too pressurised, too child-centred, too glitzy and economic. “There’s a bit of fiddling to be done with Christmas yet before we nail it,” he concluded.

It’s an observation that will resonate with many. While the essence of Christmas can still feel magical, the intensity surrounding it is hard to escape. For most people, it revolves around two things: presents and parties -  both of which lead inevitably to the third “p” word, pressure.

Pressure on Santa to deliver the gifts children want so they won’t feel “less than” among their classmates. Pressure to cook the perfect dinner, host the perfect day, look good at the Christmas party. And perhaps the heaviest burden of all - the pressure to be happy, to live up to the idea of “the most wonderful time of the year”.

For those who genuinely love Christmas, may it continue to be everything it has always been for you. But for those who don’t - and for those who quietly dread it -  know this: you are not alone. Christmas has a way of opening old wounds, magnifying loss and stirring complicated emotions.

If all you are hoping for is to get through it, that is enough. The lights will come down, the calendar will turn, and the days will grow gentler again.