I know that some pagan people like to celebrate #wintersolstice AND Christmas. That's not for me. Christmas was always celebrated in a purely secular way in my family (all non-denominational) and since I have become #pagan, I am no longer interested in that.
I'm not celebrating with my parents and siblings this year. This is very relaxing for me: No travelling stress, no sitting together at home for days on end because there's hardly anything to do locally - and I'm rather not in the mood for walks in icy winds.
What's more, my parents live in a draughty house that never gets really warm in winter and, as they have energy-saving light bulbs everywhere, it's also pretty dark. Not exactly inviting, unfortunately.
As I'm not giving any presents this year and don't want to, there's no need to stress about presents. Instead, I've donated something to charity.
I met a nice and helpful neighbour earlier today, but I don't know him well. He once helped me with something I couldn't do on my own. I wished him happy holidays. He asked me if I would be alone over the holidays. I replied evasively, "Everything's fine!"
Maybe he would have invited me to celebrate Christmas with his family and him if I had told him that I was alone. And that's pretty much the last thing I want. 😅