I’ve noticed my fellow classmates have divided themselves into two categories this past week: those who start celebrating Christmas the day after Halloween and those who don’t. I figured it would be interesting to analyze these two opinions, explore why someone leans a certain way in this situation and come to a general idea of how I think these next few months should go.
Initial Observations
People on campus are quite polarized with their views on this controversy. There aren’t many who “listen to Christmas music when they feel like it” (as I do), it seems that those who have an opinion on the matter have a very strong opinion.
I also gathered that this is a pretty touchy subject. While discussing this topic I’ve seen many sides of many different people that I’m not sure I would ever like to see again.
My findings
The internet is littered with blog posts and articles arguing both sides, some of which believe celebrating Christmas early ruins the magic. Those who believe this see these early celebrations as acts that take away the true meaning of Christmas. The holiday becomes a commercialized event to them, only celebrated for the big retail companies to make profit. Most also believe that Black Friday sales, commercials and ads for Christmas in November take away from the true meaning of the holiday, and can even be considered sacrilegious.
On the other hand, there’s the argument that listening to this music and celebrating the holiday early is nostalgic, and helps the listener reminisce on the joys of the holiday season. In a blog post on this topic, a woman claimed that her rule was always “No Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.” This changed during a time in her life that was unpredictable in the worst way, and she found Christmas music to be of comfort to her. When hearing it on the radio, she used this music to worship when she needed it most.
Results
What do I think? Celebrate Christmas as early as you want to. Whether that means the first day of December or the first day of July, there’s never a wrong time to radiate love, happiness and Christmas spirit.
