NEW YEARS EVE..ARE YOU HAVING A QUIET OR BUSY ONE?

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone!

• How will you be spending your time this Christmas and/or New Years Eve?
• With family...friends..relatives....partner?
• If you are spending this festive season alone...your thoughts are just as valued and appreciated!
• Readers of the forums can post too! Joining the Beyond Blue forums is easy and your thoughts are very welcome 🙂

my kindest wishes for the season

Paul

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone....All thoughts are welcome....whether you like Christmas or if you dont 🙂

Hey Hanna3......great to have your thoughts on Christmas! You made a great point about your brother and him going camping and getting away from it all (the commercial emphasis on Christmas) Are you having a quiet New Years Eve or a busy one?

Hey Katy....Thankyou so much for helping out with this temporary (seasonal) thread topic 🙂 You are a legend!

I used to have a beautiful 6' tall (artificial) tree which I dont use anymore....Just for me Its easier to use a small 12" tree with mini decorations....

Does everyone have a Christmas tree?....Or do you choose not to have one?

May the Santa be with you!

Paul

[Moonstruck]

Hello Hanna3 (sorry you couldn't find anyone around last night...as you said in the Cafe....had the place all to yourself did you?)...well I explained the reasons why I can't bear Christmas in my other thread.."Christmas - with Anxiety/Depression".....I tend to agree with your brother.

"wake me when it's over"...Roll on December 26....it can't come around fast enough for me!!!

Paw Prints I loathe it too, when people ask "what are you doing for Xmas"....none of their business actually, but still, they ask!.....

[Moonstruck]

OOps....thought I'd better clarify my last sentence....that it's "none of their business" when they ask etc etc....

That excludes all you lovely people on Forum of course....you can ask me anything...I meant the "others".."out here"!!....glad I cleared that up......cheers....Moon S

[Hanna3]

Indeed Moonstruck I did have the place all to myself last night! It was positively lonely around here.

Yes isn't it difficult when people ask what are you doing for Christmas and they all do it!!!!!! I did once answer honestly and said I was having it alone - this was to a group of people I was travelling with in a car - they answered by saying "Oh yes it's always nice to have a day on your own isn't it" !!!!!!!! (ie. they felt uncomfortable and didn't really want the truth at all). So now I fudge an answer - something like "just having a quiet Christmas with a friend" etc .

Agree sitting on top of a mountain until it's all over is a rather appealing idea...

[Hanna3]

Hi blondguy, the town where I live now has a New Year's Eve celebration but if I don't have anyone to go with I'll be home alone again - which doesn't bother me too much New Year's Eve really. When I lived in the city I used to love New Year's Day as everyone was sleeping off hangovers and I'd have a clear drive to the beach with no traffic and the beach practically to myself as well - it was great!

Not looking forward to it here I'm sure everything will be closed so I'll definitely hunker down with a really good DVD...

Gosh my life is exciting isn't it. Oh dear. Well you did ask!

[Moonstruck]

I am sinking lower and lower. (also posted on my thread in Anxiety). getting harder and harder to get out of bed....can't stand much more...this is the worst year yet. I feel attacked, intruded upon, drowning, buried, can't escape the over-emphasis on this time of year that I loathe so much!

Very very hard to shut it out...its relentless..everywhere I look, the sights, the sounds, all reeking of Joy, Togetherness, Friends, Love, Family, Fun, Immense quantities of food, grog, lights, tinsel,
all pressuring us to

"Be Happy...Be Happy. It is compulsory for you to be happy and surrounded by love. where are your loved ones? Why is all this love not crowding around YOU..where are your decorations? Why are you out of step with the rest of us..what's Wrong With You??? Why aren't you playing Carols.....we all are....Listen!! See, even in the supermarket checkout line we play music about snow and sleighs and joy and laughter......we are happy happy happy.?...

I can't bear it..please make it stop.

[Hanna3]

Hi Moonstruck, Christmas makes you think everyone out there is happy and busy organising a great Christmas with their families. Some are. Lots of people are stressed out. Lots of people will have heaps of family arguments. Heaps of people are alone or have recently lost a loved one etc etc etc.

Don't feel too down. I'm spending Christmas alone, I have no decorations up in the house (it's just me and the dog!) and I have no close family. So I know how you feel. I try to ignore all the Christmas hype and watch a movie, read a good book. On Christmas Day I treat myself with something like my favourite dessert or something. One day and it's over pretty fast.

I'm sorry you are feeling so rotten but heaps of people are you just don't meet them because nobody (including me) likes to admit to other people out there that they're lonely and miserable. We're here to listen and give support Moonstruck and if you're alone Christmas Day I'm sure there will be people here to talk to - I probably will be doing the same, hoping someone is here! Take care of yourself. Furry hugs from my mutt Sam!

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone! Thank you for sharing your point of view on Christmas 2019 🙂

Hey Moon....Your thoughts on Christmas are just as valued as mine or anyone else's on the thread. Sure, not everyone likes Christmas. The most frustrating part for me is 'some' of the stressed out mums in the shops and in the carpark of a shopping center.....This can be a very dangerous place for me when I am doing my best to remain somewhat calm in such a busy/frantic time of year....ugh! The guys seem so much more easygoing and polite when shopping.....;-) Hugs Moon x

Hey Hanna.....Great to have you on the forums and thanks too for your valued contribution on this this thread 🙂 Appreciate you mentioning New Years Eve...You have mentioned an excellent point about New Years Eve and I usually spend New Years solo sometimes too

Hanna mentioned "I'm sure everything will be closed so I'll definitely hunker down with a really good DVD" What would your (or anyone's) choice be for a DVD be on New Years Eve?

I am stuck in the 70' - 80's so I may watch 'Alien' again...An absolute cracker of a horror movie....Or maybe 'Flashdance' may be a good call too! Furry Hugs from my Chow/German Shep Cross....Prince...Woof!

be gentle to yourselves...please

Paul

[Moonstruck]

See you hit the nail on the head BlondGuy...that's it..in a nutshell!! (gee the puns are coming fast and furious today aren't they? You mentioned "stressed out Mums in shops" and "such a busy/ frantic time of year..ugh".... You see. that's my point!! right there! WHY is it a "busy frantic time of year"...

WHY do Mums in shops get "stressed out".?.....It is just a day on the calendar to me. I have no reason to get "stressed out in shops" nor is it a "busy frantic time of year" for me......BUT.....this is what gets me down so very much...it's that the majority of society IS that way....reinforced every hour, every day, non-stop by the Media and TV....that this is NORMAL!

We don't have to be busy and frantic. We don't have to get stressed out in shops. But its become almost compulsory...you are the odd one out if you don't...it's madness. Seeing other people that way is stressful to ME.

all their stress and over emphasis on what is another Wednesday affects me too..when it is constantly shoved down my throat....and it's damn hard to avoid. It's everywhere I look, all over the TV, in the papers, magazines...downtown...everywhere!

Does anyone know why this goes on year after year and seems to get worse?. Can someone give me a reason why people behave differently, decorate their homes, spend more money, have parties, travel long distances.....just because it's December?.

What's stopping them from doing these things in March, or August, or October, or July or whatever?. Why isn't there this kind of fuss when they do these things in these other months? How come my neighbours don't ask me "What are you doing for June? Have you done all your June shopping yet?"

Why doesn't the media go overboard to let us know it's July and "time to be with loved ones"..?

[Paw Prints]

Hi Moon & everyone,

There is a simple answer to your questions - $$$$$$$$$

They push the "you must do X or your some sort of failure" the constant advertising is to guilt people into spending more & more each year. The whole "keeping up with the Joneses" kick ins. Parents don't want their kids to "miss out" on what their peers get. As people have mentioned here... say your not doing these things & people look at you as if you've suddenly grown two heads.

The manipulated fake aspirational curated view of how wonderful your life will magically be if you do X. Its like Valentines day, the Melbourne cup, football finals & now we have the over the top merchandising of Halloween, the Black Friday Sale etc. All of which are nothing but hyper inflated advertising aimed at separating people & their money.

I have no problem telling people I am doing nothing Xmas/New Year, I catch up with the people who matter to me when it suits us, not at the exhortion of the big business.

I'm not having a go at people who do the whole Christmas thing. It's a public holiday which makes it so much easier for people to time a get together. There is something magical in watching a young child seeing Santa or seeing that the reindeers have eaten the carrots left out or finding presents under a tree.

It can be an enjoyable time for many people. I think it works best when they do what suits them, instead of trying to have a 'perfect Xmas as advertised"

Paws