We are simple creatures in one important aspect: we seek pleasure and run away from pain. And I think it is a viable mantra, it gets stuff done. It makes one buy sweetly-flavored candles and avoid conflict. Through our history, it has driven evolution. It was rather unpleasant to eat raw meat and freeze during a nasty storm, so fire was discovered. Pies and bread and not hunting from dusk until dawn are way more appealing than dusty plants (no offense to plants, they are delicious) and the same old meat. As a consequence, the Agricultural Revolution took place.

Humans, alas, sometimes out of laziness, are smart and innovative. This dimension knows no bounds. I see proof of this every day. Every time I go to a supermarket and see a lane of self-checkout machines or canned soups or people on the Internet offering to paint your walls for a very fair price. We live in a world of expanding pleasure. And the biggest pleasure of them all? Holidays! Free days, loaaads of yummy food, family gatherings and bright energies all around. And when do energies shine the brightest? When there are a whole lot of twinkle lights wrapped around the house and the city.

Indeed, I am talking about Christmas! Magical, snowy (theoretically) and gingerbread-themed Christmas. We are very big on Christmas in this household. The Christmas shopping starts mid-November, decorating starts on the first day of December and on Christmas Eve we bake and cook all day. In 2023, we started noting down how many Christmas movies (mostly romcoms) we watch during the season, and every year it amounts to around 15. The celebrations usually start around the 10^th of November because, when we were living in the same city, that was when the Christmas Markets started opening up. Sticky cinnamon buns are in the oven, a feel-good movie is chosen and the smell of hot chocolate fills the air.

Alas, we are not that radical. Regarding music, we start lightly. In November, we usually only listen to vintage Christmas music (think the ’40s or the ‘50s) or just wintery atmospheric jazz (our favorite YouTube channel for that is Lepreezy). The classic carols or songs are for early December. See? We are such balanced people.

All jokes aside, I started observing this phenomenon all around. Because it wasn’t always like this. When I was little, we would decorate the tree on the weekend before Christmas. We would only start talking about the concept of Christmas a couple of weeks before the actual event. Now, it is more than one month in advance. And it certainly wasn’t our original idea. It’s everywhere. Halloween ends and everyone on social media starts switching up the ghost-shaped mugs with little candy cane ones. You can’t find anything sweet in a store that doesn’t have marzipan, cinnamon or peppermint in the name. The drinks at the local coffee shop are all blizzard-named, when the leaves have not even left their branches. Everyone starts testing out Advent Calendars and deciding which brand has come up with the most authentic idea.

Speaking of Advent Calendars, my sister bought me such a unique one last year. It is from Rituals, and it mimics a small cozy town, full of warm lights and beautiful snowy drawings. It has everything from hand creams that make your hands sooo soft to a shimmering mini body oil that is perfect for a New Year’s party!

Apologies, I got carried away as well… This is just further proof that Christmas is everywhere and it is ridiculously enchanting! No wonder everyone wants to start it before the middle of November! But still, is this the only reason? And, if yes, when will it stop? Will we be fulfilling, in a couple of years, the Moon’s sacred vision of Christmas in July?

In order to investigate the situation, I am proposing some theories along with the research I have gathered:

This term has been used since the mid-1980s, and it basically describes how Christmas stuff is sold starting from October or early November. It has gotten worse during the last few years, an evolution probably fuelled by events such as the global pandemic. And it’s not just Christmas decor, it’s everything from festive radio music to Netflix insisting you watch how career women leave their long-term boyfriends and move to small towns. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can start Christmas whenever you want, the world is yours. The intention is the problem. Something becomes not so sweet when it changes from wanting to bring joy to wanting to take your money. Because, naturally, a longer period to shop for things means you have more opportunities to spend. Radio music and streaming platforms help bring out the carolling shopper in you.

So, to conclude, consumerism makes Christmas longer and longer and, sometimes, not so jolly. Too many carols too early can annoy, rather than delight a soul. The over-displayed shopping sprees can make someone forget that maybe that family heirloom of a tree topper is the most precious ornament there is.

Content creators start presenting their summer outfits in May and their Halloween costumes in early September. People need time to see, to analyze and to prepare. If you post about your DIY mermaid tail one day before Halloween, no one will have the time to recreate it. It’s a strategy and it works. Alas, it also sets up the mood. If someone sees a romantic Christmas edit on the 1^st of November, the mind won’t just enjoy it and move on. It will activate synapses, remember how good it felt. It will want it again, and it will want it now. It is just how the human mind works, we see something that makes us all fuzzy inside so we crave more of it. If we didn’t think about Christmas until the middle of December before, we do now because there are stimuli everywhere. And, honestly, do you even mind that? Because I don’t think I do, and Last Christmas gets better every year. On the other hand, I don’t think I will be buying one of those giant pink nutcrackers. Just not my jam.

I think people get more nostalgic. We have so much access to the past, and we tend to romanticize it a lot. Society loves escapism, especially now when the real world seems somehow dull, heavy and tiring. Instead of arriving home and reading some fantasy, you start baking gingerbread cookies and hanging up some fairy lights. It’s just another form of escaping, and it’s a pretty good one. So many people are engaging in it that it became kind of a hobby in itself. It is morally accepted and a lot of people practice it so one feels included and understood. I also believe that because the general energy of Christmas is a beautiful and toasty one, people recharge from it. It started out as a pure one, and those footsteps are what is being invited in.

Our modern Christmas means, as a concept, family and feasts and gifts and laughing. Laughing like you used to do when you were 10 and had no bills to pay and no expectations to meet. And that feels good, even if it’s just for a few days. Moreover, it doesn’t hurt anyone, except for maybe your wall from all the duct tape you used for those lights.

These are just a few of my thoughts on this peculiar phenomenon. All that being said, I can’t claim to be a victim of this mindset. I am writing this a few hours before building a gingerbread house with my mom and sister. I am already thinking Christmas gifts. Tomorrow, the Moon and I are having a very important coffee meeting to create our mood boards for the season. Alas, I am a person of science (sometimes), I like to know why things happen and how human needs change with time and context.

Until next time, I do hope you find a way to fully enjoy this deliciously cozy period, whether with some mulled wine or picking out a tree. We don’t judge, we fully support it!