2 Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood…

The rush to fill this space – not just the bare walls but the commercial space – with Christmas is hardly subtle, and if you went grocery shopping this weekend, frankly overwhelming.

Christmas is joy. But for many people, Christmas is also associated with huge amount of stress: the stress of too much to do, the stress of meeting expectations, the stress of creating joy, the stress of perfection and tradition, the financial stress. And on top of it, the personal struggles for so many, including grief or trauma.

Have an honest reflection with yourself and your family: are you at risk of stressing out and being holiday fatigued — before the Toy Show even airs? “52 sleeps” is a bit much to countdown with small children.

We deserve to live in the present without be rushed headlong into the next thing.

I have marked a date on the calendar with my boys. On that date, near the end of this month, we will decorate. On that date, we will make Christmas lists. On that date, I will worry about the holiday menu.

But BEFORE that date, there are a few more weeks of autumnal walks and crisp mornings on the sports pitch and have some comfort autumnal foods and embrace the… well, just the everydayness of it not being a holiday.

I spent a good amount of my life in the US — which, let’s be fair, has it’s problems and after this coming Tuesday, might have substantially more. But the one thing they get right is November. It’s properly still autumn: the autumn sports season continues, that foliage starts to fall, there are a few more weeks of hot cider** and recipes full of roasted squash and pumpkin. There is a late autumn coziness as nights close in, the month finishing with a long bank holiday dedicated to gratitude and togetherness on Thanksgiving Thursday — before the commercialism of Christmas gets it’s annual official jumpstart the next morning on Black Friday.