The first xmas, real xmas, in about 3 years and I did need it. Living like a hermit did not work out. Hermit crabs are generally irritable and unpleasant, and now I know why. You need the time to sit and unplug and just. be. Surrounded by the non-judgment (or occasionally over-judgment) of friends, family, or even borrowed family. Either way.
It’s necessary for survival, and you do not realize it until you have to work an ungodly amount of hours during the xmas holiday and all you have to do is sleep. So you don’t think about it. But you get cranky and hermit crabby and do not understand why. And here I am feeling like human again. It is easy to get lost in the crazy hustle-bustle rubber-room insanity of the thing, but at the end of the day (or days) when you get to sit and veg and just enjoy random xmas movies and eat way too many sweets meats and treats, and communally moan about how everyone will have to get in shape for the new year…that’s what it is. Not gifts, or Jesus, or shopping. Just that feeling you get from doing nothing at all with people who care. That’s the Merry Christmas.
Take it from me. I know. I am your commander.
Signing Off.
The Gentle Sandman 