Smug Holiday People
There are always those people that get their holiday shopping and other preparations done early. I think those that can achieve this feat don’t brag about it as much these days. But I’ve heard enough of those smug comments in my lifetime to know the pride that comes with this particular festive season success. They have a twinkle about them that us mere mortals can only dream about.
The true mood of the holidays is equal parts tinsel or twinkle lights and stressful hustle. Hot chocolate with marshmallows can only bring so much comfort when your lists are still miles long, no matter how many times you’ve checked them and checked things off. There will always be something that makes you feel days or weeks behind.
When someone smiles as they munch on a new baking recipe they had time to invent while hand-painting a nativity scene because they had all their shopping done in October, well, I think we all have our version of where we’d like to shove that delicious-looking cookie. But we simply smile back, secretly hoping they have to do at least one thing last minute.
The last few years though, I’ve noticed something more than the smugness in these people. There is less stress and worry in their eyes. Their joy feels genuine. Sure, we might generally be happy and enjoying the holiday season too. But these people are managing to do so without the strain that the rest of us can’t seem to escape. It’s annoying, and also incredible.
Last winter I decided that it would be nice to be some version of one of these people. I didn’t want to be done shopping in the fall or decorating before Halloween. But I knew I wanted their joyful holiday twinkle. So, I bought two tubes of the coolest dinosaur holiday wrapping paper on clearance in January, then did nothing else for ten months.
My first holiday gift idea came by accident in early October. It was a good gift, and my nearly forgotten quest for holiday season smugness ignited. I don’t think we bought any other gifts in October. But the seed was planted and the ideas started to swirl around. Then, when the first week of November arrived, we wrote down our list and got to work.
Even though this quest was technically about giving, most if not all, of my motivation was selfish. Over my adult years, I’ve spent plenty of my birthdays shopping for Christmas gifts and spent who knows how much on expedited shipping. I’ve been bumped into and had my holiday spirit trampled enough times when the other over-tired, stressed out, grumpy crowds of people are shopping in the final days before Christmas. It’s overwhelming. And exhausting.
The thing is, the gift part is my least favorite thing about the holidays. Because it’s the part that always seems to monopolize your time and overshadow everything else if you let it. You hear people complain about every part of the holidays. How they still have to decorate the tree, put up all the lights, buy the Christmas ham, and clean the whole house again before family arrives. But no complaint comes up more often than all the holiday shopping left to do.
If I participate in this stress-inducing holiday ritual of last minute hullabaloo, it takes away from what I enjoy most about this time of year. The first day of winter and the anticipation of the first snow. The early evening darkness and thousands of multi-colored twinkle lights lighting up the neighborhood. Baking dozens of cookies and cozying up with your family to watch a Christmas movie. These are the moments I look forward to each year. And these moments stop being so magical when you are hustling too hard to enjoy them.
So, as the holidays wind down and the decorations are days from being tucked away until next November, I think I achieved just the right amount amount of holiday smugness for myself this year. There was more time to enjoy my favorite parts of the holidays and I felt the spark of joy from the extra twinkle. It was truly lovely. Don’t worry though. I won’t brag about the details.
