The Silly Season begins at the stroke of midnight tonight.Gone will be the pumpkins, ghosts and goblins, only to be replaced by sleigh bells, Scrooge and cellphone commercials.
Of course, this isn't my first rant on the subject of Christmas. Like the holidays themselves, I am prone to repeating myself every year at this time.
In 2007, I published a student paper in the Georgetown University Critical Theory Journal entitled "Sameness, Repetition and the Function of Christmas," (pg 30).
In the paper I refer to Christmas as a "psychotechnology," (György Markus' term) and suggest it is a form of managed behaviour. Every year we set out to have a happy holiday yet our expectations are thwarted and we find ourselves disappointed and emotionally hungover once the event has ended.
By looking critically at our habits and performance at this time of year we could learn something about the expectations we pack into our rituals and come to understand that this emotional hangover, or boredom, is a catalyst.
"Our needs and desires are ultimately liberating because they contribute to the mechanism of standardization, which in turn, can lead to an understanding of our needs and desires," (pg 36).
We can only acknowledge our predicament once we've gone through it. For some of us, we need several attempts. But it starts by realizing boredom is not something to be feared. It is the way out.
So, take care this holiday season.
