TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods are running promotions this holiday bemoaning the intense sales push of the season and offering their everyday low prices as the cure. People are encouraged to go back to celebrating what truly matters this season, like love and time with family, instead of seeking out sales. This promotion amuses me, because it was never the commercialization of the holidays that ruined them for me. It was the hyper-spiritualization of them.
The irony is the spiritualizing of things was supposed to bring joy. At least that was what I was told. Instead what I experienced was the frustration of having my simple joy in the holidays interrupted and burdened by forced religious observation. And if I expressed my frustration, a beating was surely in my future. Merry Christmas.
Now that I am free of that burden I can honestly enjoy the joy, love, and beauty of the holidays in a way I never could as a child. Praises be.