After working in retail I had the same feeling. It is why I don't like shops getting things set two months in advance. I still consider it a holiday to spend with loved ones and friends. Not what I want for gifts. I rather be with friends and family.

It feels like any other day even though I didn't work holiday retail. I'm just not much of a holiday person.

Hate it :)

I don't DISlike my family, but being forced to be around them? Not keen. I prefer solitude. My partner would be an exception there, but he's 150 miles away (and he bloody LOVE Xmas in all of its tinsely glory)

Christmas is for kids and those who've yet to have all of the hope and dreams ripped out of them by the relentless torrent of filth and disease through the sewer that is life :>

I just see it as another day because retail. And it's the only holiday that the store is closed.

Christmas is just another day anymore. Between the insane political correctness in the Country and a lack of family or stability or friends who aren't busy with their own family....its just another day to be alone and forgotten...least on my part...and that's how I feel.

It feels kind of hollow this year. For me anyway, I don't know why though.

This old wuffer isn't much a one for participating in organized religions these days, but the faith they represent is still strong. So for Vrghr, this holiday is one of joy and love, for reaching out to friends and strangers with gifts that represent the gift Vrghr's Author was given when he accepted Christ years ago.

It's a time to spread that joy in a smile, an unexpected present, or a silly "jingle beard" ( http://www.furaffinity.net/full/25755190/ ) that makes folks laugh and feel a little happier for a time. Retail and media has tried to diminish and commercialize the season, but they haven't quite succeeded in obliterating the spirit of it yet in this wuff's heart.

Wuff isn't focused on the getting of gifts, but on the meaning that Vrghr is thought of and loved expressed by the giving.

And it's so easy to pass that along and brighten another's day. And this holiday makes the perfect "excuse" to do that! Little things, like tossing some coins in a kettle, or saying "I'll pay for the car behind me" at a drive through. Or picking up the tab for a random table or a group of service people at a restaurant.

It doesn't have to be about money, either. Just a smile, a cheerful greeting, letting someone into line ahead of you, or making a space for them to merge into on the highway followed by a smile and a wave. And it costs this wuff nothing to give them.

Do little things like that actually make a difference? How can we tell for sure? But Vrghr believes that they do; and isn't that what Faith means? A belief in something you can't prove?

And that brings us right back to where we started, and the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas, and may your Holidays be Joyous!

Christmas to me is like a chore... gotta decorate, gotta wrap gifts, gotta cook, gotta go to several houses to spend time with family and friends.

It is also a mix time for me because eventhough it is a time of gathering, it is also a time of loss. I have had several relatives and a few pets die around this time of the year. I suppose because the cold weather often results in a weakened immune system.

I hate to sound like a joy-kill or pessimist, but it ends up often feeling like a time I just want to get over with. I mean yeah, the gifts are nice (if I get any... since most relatives are broke or disassociated with the rest of the family), and the food is good (I love food), but it is not exactly one of my favorite holidays. Halloween probably is, cause I do like to dress up and admire other peoples costumes.

Like a regular day. Miserable, short, stressful; wasting my energy making some rich asshole richer, while I give away my dreams. No tree, no gifts, no family...

It's just another day of the week really.

Usually feels pretty good. This year, not so much.

Christmas for us was every day this year we were able to make someone feel happy.