Christmas in Covid-19

So, it's another year, and we are all anticipating the joy of the holidays.

Wait, what's that you say?

We are in a pandemic?

Life in pandemic America has changed dramatically. If you live in California, like I do, you know that just recently the California government made an attempt to cancel Halloween.

This did not go over well.

Although Thanksgiving is in the midst of the holiday season, the big question is whether or not Christmas is going to also be dangerously compromised. Yes, I said dangerously, because the fact that we are all shut down has become a danger, and the idea of taking more of our institutions is something that not many Americans can tolerate anymore.

Thus the uproar over the cancellation of Halloween.

In California, as I believe it should be for a short time throughout the United States, along with a short quarantine and time of strict behavioral conditions, everything is shut down because we cannot seem to behave ourselves. For months now eating in a restaurant has been forbidden, malls have been closed, and movie theaters - don't even go there. Although some strict behavioral changes over a short time period by everyone could change all of this, we as Americans do not seem to be able to spend just 14 days being good neighbors.

So, this pandemic groans on, and as a result, we all suffer because some cannot sacrifice for a short time.

Yes, that is my belief - but -

Cancelling more of our lives is going to break us. If we cannot go Christmas shopping, if we cannot work, and if we cannot go caroling, enjoy the special foods, and the wonderful gatherings. If we cannot bring back some of this normal - what is that going to do to us?

Human beings thrive on tradition. Even the thought of stopping the tradition of saying Merry Christmas has some people out of sorts. Personally, I believe that people should privately say what they want to one another, but in diverse settings, Happy Holidays is not that much of a struggle. However, just this change set everyone in a tizzy.

So what will a Christmas without the social interchanges that people are most accustomed to do to the moral of the country?

Nothing good.

What can we do about it? Adhere to as many norms as possible. Hopefully, the shopping situation will open up - I don't know about you, but I am very tired of paying more for items through online shopping, and not being able to browse for deals and discounts.

In lieu of spending money, spend your at home time making crafts and decorating your house to make up for all of the places you might have been able to enjoy lighting and frivolity.

I had planned on going to San Francisco myself for the Dickens Holiday Faire, but it is canceled this year.

So, it is an at home adventure because there are likely not going to be too many out of the house adventures this year. Going old school, like scavenger hunts, games, and events in the home will likely be what families can do. This could open up a whole new world of tradition that can happen every year.

People like me without a family will have to make do, but for now, lamenting all we cannot do is not worth the time because it changes nothing.

Going back to traditions from our grandparents, to those traditions that we can start anew are what we have at our fingertips.

Make gifts, creating a winter wonderland in your home - even for me in the California desert - and working on the ways you celebrate with each other, even in a time of distance, will provide you with the holiday cheer we so desperately need this year.

So, work on those Christmas dreams and join me in a new kind of normal.

We all need the spirit this year.