Well I have always done a lot at christmas, being a singer there has always been rehearsals and concerts to fit in with family things and on the whole I have enjoyed it. But am now a widow , live alone and whilst still enjoying the singing etc and getting in touch with family and friends it is not the same without my husband and all the special things we did together. However there are one or two bits I would mention. Having always been a keen gardener, I always announced at some point that I was doing my christmas walk round the garden. In practical terms I make a note of anything flowering on the day and generally get a bit of fresh air and peace and quiet! The useful thing is that I can announce I am going to look round at a time that suits me, so if the family or one person was really annoying me that was the signal to go out, or if things were taking too long or getting boring or too much irritating noise of phones etc then I would choose that time to disappear. Over time everyone got used to me going out and didnt take any umbrage over it and so it was a really useful excuse to have up my sleeve at any given time. I also wrote it down (these days probably photograph plants) but it is good if you have lived for some time in one place and you can look back and see times and occasions when plants flowered and over time this is useful information which is used by such as the RHS to be able to look at changes to flowering, climate etc and your small contribution goes together with many more and gives a good overall view so worth doing. Then a couple of other ruses if you dont feel it will go down well if you tell others that you are not doing christmas! One year my sister had had a very stressful year at work and in health situation, She didnt lie about it but when asked by one group about visiting over christmas told them that she had already been in touch with a different group of friends and so regretably would not be able to join them. Told the other group the same thing and so they both assumed she was with the other group. She actually got in thigs that she fancied eating, did no christmas decorating or food shoppng at all, was happy to lounge about in her dressing gown for most of the day, doing exactly what she wanted. Then on Boxing day went off for a longish walk and came home to totally not christmas food. she returned to work feeling very refreshed and was welcomed by friends as she was happy to eat turkey sandwiches etc . so that is another way you might deal with the holiday. Then you might get in touch with an old friend that you dont get a chance to see much and organise to have perhaps a weekend in January together catching up in your own way and keep the christmas day down to the absolute minimum. Over new year my parents always did a safari meal with friends so that you had starter at one house then main at another and sweet at a third. That way you only cooked one course, took turns so that the main course was the one where you had to put the effort in and the starter and dessert could be something that you got ready and froze earlier in december so little work on the day. One of my favourties was to do summer pudding on boxing day. The smell of the fruit which we remembered picking in summer and the simplicity was lovely. You could also take the chance whenever the occasion arose to talk to family and say aloud what you would really enjoy doing, so maybe you would rather walk along a canal and come home to corned beef hash or beans on toast. We should not get hooked up about the actual food but the pleasure of sharing a meal with loved ones and enjoying their company. Go for it! As far as we know we only have one life and we dont come back to let anyone know so I think so long as what you do doesnt harm anyone else , have a go and who knows once you are prepared to state what you would prefer to do, others might be brave enough to do the same. Not wanting to do what other people enjoy doing is not a sin and doing your own thingis calming and pleasant and worth doing. Good luck
Young people ‘expected’ to engage with government's new work support plans.
Patronising comments about mature love
