Your Holiday and You: A "How-To" Guide to Getting Through the Spirit of the Season

So, this is Christmas. What have I done? Not much. Earlier in the year, we had planned to spend the time on a beach somewhere in the south - avoid the season all together and waste the time away drinking rum and hitting local souvenir shops. With the bad weather and mass flight cancellations, it's a good thing we decided against it.

Last night we sat through the CNN documentary After Jesus: The First Christians. Even during the holidays, we subject ourselves to American cable news. Still entertaining, but given that most of the news has been wholesale negative this year, sitting through more of the same wouldn't really make it easy for someone to feel the spirit of the season.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to the tail end of the holidays. I'm not out to be a Scrooge, and I sincerely hope everyone had a good time; however, this year, it's not for me. I've never been one for tradition, though it does have its good points. It's the concept of requisite joy that's expected. What if I'm not really in the mood? Should I adjust for the sake of others?

Actually, that doesn't sound like a terrible idea.

Tonight there will be good food, family, and probably more CNN (even though the programming schedule is a little light this week). I was hoping to catch up on my MSNBC programs, but most if not all of my favourites have been replaced with prison documentaries and more predators to be caught.

Maybe I'm just focusing on the wrong things. Switch off the cable news, break out the egg nog and put on a good movie. Who's up for a little Network?

Happy holidays.

Illustration by Marco Moni.