Christmas Cheer

By: Dr. Renae Norton

“The Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!’ And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. And the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

— Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Anticipation rises as we inch closer to Christmas, but is it really as merry as it is made out to be, or do the ribbons and wrapping and shopping and meal prepping take center stage? Does the stress of gift-giving dull the shine of Christmas cheer? Or is there a deeper meaning that is hidden in the modern chaos that we have all forgotten? 

In a study published in 2002, Tim Kasser and Kennon Sheldon set out to find out what makes a merry Christmas. Turns out presents are not what gives us that warm fuzzy feeling that comes around this time of year. In fact, gift-giving is one of the more stressful parts of the holiday season, especially when it comes to the amount of money we spend and the time we put into shopping for and wrapping them. 

So what is it about December that feels so much different than all the other months? Kasser and Sheldon found that the two aspects of the holidays that give us the most joy are spending time with loved ones and religious experiences, which they thought could be linked to a greater sense of community and belonging. They also found that elderly people tend to be happier in comparison to younger individuals during the holidays. I think this could be due to the relationship between age and wisdom, but I will leave that one up to you, speaking as an older person 

While this study may be 20 years old, I think we can still apply these principles today. Inflation has put a dent in many Americans\’ wallets and the monetary stress to provide materialistic appreciation to those around us can take the joy out of any holiday. However, as shown above, Christmas joy does not necessarily come from the gifts we give and receive, but from the people we spend time with and the meaning that we find in those relationships. Maybe Dr. Seuss was right all along… So let’s all take some time to appreciate what we do have and the people with whom we get to share our lives. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!