Post-Christmas blues can be a serious blow to what was once a happy and festive spirit.
As the tree begins to brown (depending on how long you’ve had it, obvs – and if you’re anything like us, this doesn’t actually begin to happen until around February because we weren’t organised enough to get it until Christmas Eve), and the egg nog runs dry, the reality that Christmas is over for another year begins to set in. And like Rudolph’s heart-burn after too many carrots, or Mrs Claus’s devastation at the prospect of her husband being home for another 364 in a row… It’s never pretty.
1. Relief
You did it! You survived not only the office Christmas party without embarrassing yourself too much, several (not-so-disastrous) family events, awkward re-unions at your hometown pub with old boyfriends and having only one afternoon to get all of your Christmas shopping done (and bossed, might we add), but you survived the emotional rollercoaster that comes with Christmas. YOU DID IT! Oh no, wait… It’s all over?
2. Realisation
The realisation that it’s all over is the hardest part of the whole ordeal. That dull ache in the bottom of your stomach (an empty void that not even countless turkey sandwiches could fill), the sting of tears that come with the remembrance of happier times when your biggest problem was which Christmas jumper to wear.
3. Sadness
*Cue you moping around your house in unwashed Christmas pj’s, dragging behind you the toy Santa’s sleigh that the cats now use as a bed, muttering between sobs “Last Christmas…”* With the shock of the realisation over, all that is left is a shadow of your former festive self and some stale mince pies. We don’t know which is sadder. That, or the fact that work starts again in 4 days…waaahhhhhh!
4. Guilt
All. of. that. food. All. of. that. alcohol. All. of. that. money. None. of. that. working. from. home… The post-Christmas blues brings with it an overwhelming feeling of guilt, (whether or not you did indeed rig the Christmas cracker contest so that you’d beat Uncle Jim). He deserved it, anyway. And it just so happens that you have your jeans and bank account to remind you of exactly why you are feeling like that. Lucky you.
5. Uncertainty and Confusion
You haven’t felt this emotionally confused since…well, ever (let’s not get into that…) but this roller coaster of a holiday has got you good. You’re left worrying about whether those socks for your dad were good enough, and wondering if your ‘oh my god, I love it’ face was convincing enough for your Nana not to spend the rest of the year questioning whether or not she should have gotten you that puke green hat, scarf and gloves set. You’re also uncertain about what the future holds, because an emotional rollercoaster brings everything under scrutiny. Everything.
6. Nostalgia
‘Memories…all alone in the moonlight…’ that time your mum fell off her chair laughing at her cracker joke? When your brother filled up your drink for you without even asking? When you opened that new coat, the smell of unworn fashion wafting out of the wrapping? All. gone. now. Faded clouds of what once was that are slowly dissipating into what is no more…never to be experienced or touched or even thought of in the same way again. It hurts. Boy, does it hurt. But we think back with a taut wry smile, thankful for having ever experienced it in the first place…
7. Excitement
Only 364 days until Christmas next year!! With a few months run up…and then obviously starting shopping a few months before that…so, basically…it’s CHRISTMAS SOON! YAY!
Featured Image Credit: Imgur