It’s Almost Time for Holiday Themes!
It’s already day 24 of NaBloPoMo and the day before Thanksgiving. This means, of course, that it’s time to start thinking about our themes for the holiday. But first a quick update… After I wrote this post about my least favorite Christmas songs, several people chimed in with their support of “Last Christmas,” Nicole was possibly the winner, saying that she has a playlist of all the different versions of the song by different artists. Well, with all the discussion about it, now I can’t get it out of my mind. Arg! It reminds me of a story my mom told me years ago, about a friend of hers who actually needed some sort of therapy because she couldn’t get “It’s a Small World After All” from going through her mind incessantly. Even though I knew I shouldn’t laugh because it sounded like an actual mental health issue, I snickered a little over that. I hope, as a punishment for being so insensitive, I don’t end up in therapy because I can’t get “Last Christmas” out of my mind. ANYWAY! Every year around this time I somehow convince my family to join my in choosing holiday themes for the year. I got this idea several years ago from Gretchen Rubin’s podcast, Happier. She’s big on choosing themes. In this case, we take a phrase from a holiday song to be our theme for the season. Three years ago my theme was “Joy to the World.” Two years ago it was “Joyful and Triumphant”- I was having a really good year. My brother-in-law’s theme one year was “laughing all the way” and my son likes to make reference to the fact that we live in Florida- “all the way home I’ll be warm” and “roasting on an open fire” have been two of his. Then- 2020, sigh. My sister’s theme was “In the bleak midwinter.” Not exactly cheery! I decided on a phrase from the “sad” version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”- “next year all our troubles will be out of sight” was my theme for 2020. The problem is, I can’t seem to pick my theme this year. Usually something pops out at me, but not this time. I think it’s because I’m not sure how to feel about 2021. Is it better? Should I be joyful and triumphant? I can’t tell. You’d think with all the Christmas music I’ve been listening to in my car, something would have come to me. I thought about, as a joke, choosing my theme from the lyrics of “Last Christmas” but it really doesn’t work. “What a fool I’ve been?” No, that doesn’t seem right… “Once bitten, and twice shy.” No. Not very Christmas-y. Well, there’s still time! My goal is to pick my theme before NaBloPoMo ends. We’ll be decorating our tree on Friday, and my son has made a special playlist for the occasion- I’m hoping my theme will come to me then. In the meantime… I’m off to make pies! Do you ever choose a “theme” for the holidays? Do it with me this year!