a little confession

As I've said before, I love Christmas, I love all the craziness surrounding it, I love giving people presents, I love the festive food, I love the music, I love the lights, all of that.

And I confess: I feel a little sad when I hear someone saying they don't like this time of year, ESPECIALLY if it is because they are far from family or don't have family or have sad memories of past Christmases, or something.

And I admit I am too prone to "solutioneer" (that is: to try to propose fixes for problems. Because I want to fix problems! I get frustrated when a problem doesn't have a fix). But I find myself wanting to scoop those people up (figuratively speaking) and go, "Oh, come with me, friend! I will make you tea and bake you cookies and show you "Elf" and will do my best to MAKE you enjoy this time of year!"

But I don't, really, because I know some people don't like that, and for some people, they just either need to work through whatever it is (if it's grieving someone) or maybe they just do need to avoid the festive trappings of the season (if it's bad past memories or an ongoing thing like a family estrangement). And I admit, some people might see me trying to cheer them up in the way Sweden* sees Norway** in this comic (NB: one harsh word).

(*Blue shirt. **Red shirt. Just in case, like me, you sometimes have trouble keeping the Scandinavian flags straight.)

But yeah. I wish people didn't have to be sad this time of year even as I recognize some people are. (Then again: I get cranky in the hot summer when lots of people are happy because it means picnics and swimming and everything else, so I don't know)

(Edited to add, Saturday morning: Maybe I do have more of Pinkie Pie in my spirit than I realize....)