Worst or most difficult time of year to be Agnostic, don't you think? I can almost summon envy for those who believe even if it's generated out of lies and stupidity. The symbols, attachments to a tree, candles, over eating and all are so attractive. I'm very depressed right now anyway, and would not have done a thing had my husband not pushed. He thought to cheer me. NOPE. Every ornament has a story, and handling them brings back memories. Many of them sad, others quite lovely.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Take solice in the fact that your husband does appear to really care about you! I hope you feel better soon and happy holidays!
DavidLaDeau
Level 8
Dec 17, 2019
0
You have a lovely home. Perk up...watch a sunrise....a new day dawning always makes me feel great. ....try it....
nicknotes
Level 8
Dec 17, 2019
0
I'm never up early enough to see a sunrise. I understand they are very much like a sunset,
Not at all...the birth of a new day is FABULOUS. @ForTheBirds
It shouldn't be that difficult.
Yule, Paganism, and the Winter Solstice: How Ancient Celebrations Defined Modern-Day Christmas
"Yule is an ancient pagan festival celebrating the rebirth of the Sun God and takes place on the winter solstice...."
"Bringing in the Evergreens
"A Roman festival, called Saturnalia was celebrated around the winter solstice; the 17th through the 23rd of December. Almost all commerce stopped during Saturnalia and boughs of evergreens would be cut for decorating the home and close friends would exchange gifts. Norse celebrations honoring Thor and Odin were also held on the solstice complete with huge bonfires. Evergreens were revered by many ancient cultures because they didn’t die like other foliage or trees, during the winter months. The Celts considered evergreen boughs as sacred because of this “immortality.” Other ancient practices incorporated holly, ivy, and mistletoe as additional important decorations for the home. Holly represented good fortune while mistletoe was a representation of the “seeds of the divine.” By bringing these sacred plants into the home, practitioners were inviting the spirits of nature in, to participate in the celebration."
Daco2007
Level 7
Dec 17, 2019
1
Good for your husband for trying to cheer you up.
I, too, tend to find life disappointing, although more because my bullshit detector didn't work at such a young age as yours did, so religious faith set my expectations ridiculously high and unrealistic at the same time.
The only way I've found out of this particular thicket is to write it all off as a sunk cost and make the best life you can in the present. I've lost a mother, brother, wife and son to various forms of suffering ending in death, and I can't un-experience or un-know those things. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let it ruin the REST of my life. There are people and diseases and dog knows what else standing in line to do that anyway; I'm not taking part in it myself.
Stick with what is actionable, in other words.
Best wishes to you; may things get better and easier for you.
mordant
Level 8
Dec 16, 2019
1
It’s hard to believe, from an atheist family ..that it would have taken as long as it did to shake this shit 
I’ve a mother & brother like myself, ‘it’s Winter,’ 'next it’ll be Spring'.. But a couple of sisters, who worm their way into a dad ..who ‘get with the cultural program’ 
Any more, when not attempting to shop for groceries or projects, I laugh. Sincerely. Though I’ve not found the points for advancing beyond the hordes, I have found refuge ..and some humor.
Varn
Level 8
Dec 16, 2019
0
It is hard to think that you are forced into the position of being a party pooper, when you want to join in by nature. And I can offer no cure for that. Except to try what works for me.
Perhaps you should remember, as I try to, that Christmas is not a Christian festival anyway, but a far older festival, of now long forgotten pagan traditions, that have no religious meaning any longer, but still retain their natural and historic meaning. All the things that we do, such as, throwing a party, bringing evergreen decorations into the house, lighting lamps, having a big fire, giving gifts, putting on fancy clothes, all predate Christianity.
And what is more, they all have far greater historical significance; just imagine how much it meant to poor, people in the past, ( and even the rich were poor by our standards, ) that the winter had reached its shortest darkest day, and that now they light would begin to return, in the days before modern lighting and heating, and when the lack of and transport and storage meant that food, especially tasty fresh food would run out over winter, while beloved animals might have to be killed because they could not be fed. So then, they threw a party, to celebrate that change and to cheer themselves, because they knew that there was still a long way to go to spring. In so doing they created all those traditions, which go back beyond the first histories. Yet may still mean much today, and even if they don't we can still celebrate their delivery, as a historical memory, just as I believe you Americans celebrate Thanks Giving.
So, I light a candle and bring some sweet pine and holly into the house, and remember all those who went before, and suffered far greater hardship from the seasons than I ever will. And I celebrate that even for us today, including me, there is still much to be joyful about the turning of the seasons, especially the growing light and returning spring.
Fernapple
Level 9
Dec 16, 2019
0
Enjoy being online again!
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