In November we talked about Gratitude and Thankfulness.  We turned over every stone and looked in places we sometimes didn’t want to go, but we found it!  The turkey carcass hasn’t even been stripped clean and we are in the midst of the Christmas season.  Shopping, “Bring a Dish to Pass”, Cookies, Decorations, Family Dysfunction & More Shopping.  This month, we’re looking at  Comfort & Joy.  LIFE Comfort and Joy!  What brings you comfort and joy?  We’ll share ours and we hope you’ll share yours.

For your listening pleasure…Barenaked Ladies “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”  

Let’s be honest, Christmas isn’t always about Comfort or Joy.  For many people it brings out the worst in family members; dysfunction is at an all time high.  Depression hits hard this time of year.  If we’re all honest with ourselves, the season couldn’t be more stressful.  We [women especially] try to make magic happen every year.  We run ourselves ragged, we run ourselves into debt and we’re over whelmed with time commitments and family obligations.

Reports of Black Friday Violence are astounding to me.  A shopping frenzy caused by people buying whatever they can get their hands on….because it’s discounted.  Comfort & Joy?  It’s a Wonderful Life?

There’s been a lot of outrage over Macy’s — the retailer most synonymous with Thanksgiving and family with its parade of floats — deciding to open its stores on the day when we are supposed to give thanks. Petitions have cropped up online against other retailers like Target and Walmart lobbying them to stay closed on Thanksgiving [read more].

Great.  Another push from society to tell people they should be home with their Norman Rockwell family, celebrating the holidays like you’re supposed to.  What if you don’t have a family, what if you have a family, and the level of dysfunction they bring with them is beyond toxic?  What if you find your job to be your only “soft place to land”?  It doesn’t conform to the notion of “Comfort & Joy” so it will be protested.

The music, the movies, the very special holiday episodes of all the television shows give you the notion everything stops this time of year and all is forgiven, all is bright, o tidings of comfort and joy…comfort and joy.  It’s easy to see why depression is so high this time of year, we just can’t compete with George Bailey!  In order for you to feel the magic of Christmas, you’ll need to spend more money than you can actually afford, your work/life balance is thrown completely out of whack pursuing your “It’s a Wonderful Life” Christmas.

It’s hard to imagine, but there are people in this world that don’t live the George Bailey Life.  It’s still a good life, but it doesn’t take place in Bedford Falls.

There are people that have no one and the only interaction with the outside world they might have is going to work.  Why would anybody protest that?  Having been alone on the holidays before, I can honestly tell you I’d rather go to work than sit home and watch television interpret the kind of holiday they think I’m supposed to be having.  Not everyone has a “George Bailey” experience every year.  It’s not always a wonderful life.

OK, I’ll get off my soapbox!  On to Christmas, I mean Comfort & Joy.

I’m sure if you’re a regular reader here, you know I don’t do Christmas. At least I don’t do it in the way the masses thinks I’m  supposed to.  I find comfort & joy during the entire year.  I’m thankful for those occasions not just on Thanksgiving, but as the moments occur.

So here’s the focus for this month…this season.  Comfort & Joy.  MY Comfort & Joy.  The things that bring me great comfort, the things that bring me joy.  It just might not have much to do with Christmas.

 Tell me about your comfort…or your joy!

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/5685642071/”>Loren Javier</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>