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Say something positive about spending the holidays alone

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FauxLiz

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I am am lone for Christmas and New Years this year, it is not the first time and it won't be the last holiday's that I spend alone in my life. Everyone always asks if I am lonely, do I want to come over to their holiday celebration, asks why I don't go to visit my family. But for me the holidays alone are peaceful.

So since I know I am not the only person here that spends their holidays alone I thought we could all support each other by talking about the positive things that we get from spending the holidays alone. For me to start, The best thing for me about spending the holidays alone is I don't have to worry about listening to, being drug into any conversations about politics. Especially with current political climate in the US, the last thing that I want to do is spend time being lectured about why my beliefs are wrong, why I must support someone else's beliefs. So I am happy and thankful that I don't have to be there and listen to all of that this year.

What is your positive this holiday season?
 
Being alone this year I can speak out loud to my mom, dad, and my sister who passed and have a good cry if I feel like it. I don't have to pretend I am happy when I am not. I am just not in the spirit of celebrating as I am rather sad and would prefer just to be alone with my thoughts and feelings. At least this way I get some time alone with myself to 'recharge my batteries'. And to cry if I need to without having to pretend for everyone else's sake.
 
No fighting over the remote.
No one eating my candy.
Wakeup time is when I wanna, not when the whole house or its loudest inhabitant gets up.
No meltdowns over gifts. Had a million of those *before* Christmas.
Ability to pretend, mostly, it's just a normal day / all the reasons I didn't decorate.
 
I don't have to be overwhelmed by noise and false alcohol-induced gaiety. I don't have to be cornered about my politics. I don't have to pretend to 'like' people that don't like me.

I don't have to spend money on anyone but me and my dog. We both appreciate what I buy. Like food and the light bill.

I sleep when I want, eat when I want, eat what I like, and go for walks while others are pretending they are happy.

I enjoy my own company. And my dog loves me no matter what.
 
Warmth, peace and quiet. No awkward silences, no worries about saying/doing the wrong thing, just good food, a good book, music on the sound system, and rest.

Also, watching the wild birds after I gave them their Christmas breakfast was better than getting any present.
 
So since I know I am not the only person here that spends their holidays alone

Hi @FauxLiz Merry X‘mas

Selfchosen aloneness due to hypocrisy. I‘m no good candidate for sanctimoniousness...

Positive: I can eat my chicken wings with sauce stains on my T-shirt...
Just like Ronin says, my Candy is my Candy.. I personally dislike sharing that much..
I Don’t have to talk about the unsuccessful Holiday because the weather was so bad in Greece and pretend it interests me.. It’s boring massively
 
When I was young we almost always shared Christmas with people who had no one else, often non Christmas celebrants too. These holidays felt formal and impersonal. There was a box as big as the one I was allowed to put all my worldly possessions in for ‘Christmas stuff’ . Stuff for one day of the year.

I still like the idea of sharing Christmas but until PTSD I had only spent one Christmas just me and DH. The Christmases just me I volunteered.

I’d like to take a moment to say volunteering at Christmas we’re the best Christmases I ever had. I was busy, not vacation feeling, but very ‘Christmas spirit’ feeling. It was meditative in action and gave me lots to think about before and after, challenges my politics and my world view and gave me gratitude.

Dh does not want to volunteer and so since PTSD when I haven’t been able to face the whole ‘holiday spirit stuff’ we have spent all holidays just us. Right now we are in our kitchen in pjs. IN PJS. Not formal clothes and made up to the nines and heels hurting my feet and cooking ( in fact i’m Mainly sitting and drinking ?). But in PJS and socks. The pets are snuggled up to us not on best guest behaviour. It cost very little extra ( we splashed out for some fancy beef) . We are WATCHING TV while cooking. I hardly ever watch tv so this is a total novelty and would never have a tv on while guests are here. We are just RELAXED. No one is going to call. No one is going to knock on the door. It’s safe. Today feels safe.
 
I did not have a place to go on Christmas, but I did get a nice book from someone as a gift, so I stayed home alone and read a lot of it. It was a quiet Christmas at home and I was refreshed by it, since there had been so many things to do before that day.
 
No one was freaking out about presents, spending too much, or what the house looked like. If I didn’t make the bed, nbd. If I watched too much TV? Cool. If I decided I didn’t want to cook or do the dishes? No problem. I’m not hurting anyone’s feelings or insisting someone participate in some nonsense that I had to come up with to keep everyone civil. if I ran out of something I could calmly write it down and buy it later instead of freaking out and checking the toilet roll levels. I know great mom and uncle Elliot aren’t going to come to blows this year because she decided to push his buttons one too many times about being homosexual. I could go on, if you like.
 
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