Those who in engage in magical thinking cannot become my friends. Every member of my immediate family has more common sense than to engage in magical thinking.

This holiday season and all its anniversaries have been commercialised by Big Business to get us to spend, spend, spend buying their frippery and their products so as to boost their profits and widen both the wealth gap and the health gap: beggar thy customer.

I can reasonably be accused of being an irascible old bugger who could not give a damn about self-interested a$$holes (dollar signs intended).

I will rejoice in the existence and company of those whom it pleases me to call my friends, Christmas, Satanmas and Pastafarianmas notwithstanding.

I already visited with my family over Thanksgiving and won't see them again until maybe summer. So, I'll be on my own for the remaining holidays. That's okay with me.

The holiday season is super depressing for me, for several personal reasons, so I tend to give myself a break and not give in to any expectations of generosity and cheerfulness if I'm not feeling it. Who knows, I might feel it this year.

To cope with the sad parts of the holidays, I have developed a few personal traditions, new and different, secular and grounding for me. Maybe that would help you too?

I like to have my own little private celebration for a few minutes every evening starting with winter solstice and going through New Year's Day. The solar new year up until the calendar new year. It's my time of reflection and renewal, to start the year fresh.

I do enjoy a little bit of nostalgia, but I try to move forward instead for the most part.

Lucky for me my family is secular too, so I'm not bombarded with religion (anymore) and for that I'm thankful. Most of my acquaintances are secular, and those who are religious are pretty respectful of my humanistic values. That took years for me to gain though.

It's strangers who seem to give me the most grief about the holidays, so I just avoid them, haha. I can't stand all the forcing of "Merriness" and praising of a "Lord Savior" in whom I don't worship personally.

I tend to avoid the holiday concerts, since they always tend to include several religious worship songs, or Christian Carols as I call them. I also avoid people who consider me a grinch because I don't "believe" in the "magic" of Christmas.

Even though I don't celebrate a "savior" in the way of a little baby supposedly born over 2000 years ago who is said to have changed the world, I CAN celebrate the real people in my life who give me joy, and in some ways have saved me from despair, making my world a little brighter. It's their humanity that has the saving "magic" if I have to use that kind of thinking in any way during the season.

I try to create my own "magic" in the way of creating new memories, even if they are just for myself, and not always with family every year.

I might put some effort into a tiny display of candles and lights, reflecting my own personal values, and work on that. But otherwise, I normally just like to keep a low profile and just wait for the holidays to be over and start fresh in the new year.

I enjoy putting up pretty things inside & out, and leaving the lighted stuff up until the days get longer too.
i enjpy getting matching, 2x or even 3x matching offers from my charities. (Got 6 Llamas for the price of 3 from Heifer this year!)
I enjpy cooking & eating (for weeks hopefully) a bunch of special foods.
I have a tiny family now but it's wonderful to see & host them, since the pamdemic especially i do not take that for granted.
Life is what you make of it......

I agree wholeheartedly.

It’s just art.