Christmas time starts October 31st.
Though some will say that it is a disgrace to forget Thanksgiving, and those with a taste for cooking will fully agree.
Mariah Carey comes crashing through the snow on November 1st singing her song as loud as can be, and everyone knows that Christmas is here and it is time to get the tree.
But campus life doesn’t lend itself to Christmas vibes when finals are just around the corner. There are stress and papers and tests and so much has changed from when we were kids, but we can still celebrate old traditions and sing carols and hymns with just as much energy and happiness as we did.
Even if the kids' movies make us long for a time when we still believed in magic and the Christmas songs make us tear up.
We will finish finals strong and head home with a light feeling in our chests. Relaxation with family right around the corner, even if that family isn’t the one you were born into and looks more like a group of college friends entirely unsure how to cook.
There will be fireplaces full of memories of times long ago, when we’d drink hot cocoa and watch old Christmas movies. Those movies with Bing Crosby and Richard Attenborough and James Stewart and Barbara Stanwyck that are usually in black and white and tell jokes that still make everyone laugh.
The 25 Days of Hallmark is either never missed in your house or entirely avoided due to the overdone cheesiness of every romantic movie they release. But it still is a notable beginning to the month of December no matter what.
There are obvious things that make it feel like Christmas.
Like when your neighbor first puts up their lights and the first Christmas tree lots start to appear. The Christian radio station starts sneaking in carols and every ad has snow in it. Every store talks about the newest toy and how much you can save for the Christmas season by buying sooner rather than later.
The Rockefeller Christmas Tree is selected and driven across the country to be up in time for the lighting ceremony. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade always feels like a jumping off point for the Christmas season.
And then there are the more subtle things.
The way the air is crisp and your breath turns to mist. The immediate excitement when you can finally pull out the Christmas pajama pants and ugly Christmas sweaters. Firewood starts to stack up on everyone's front porches and it is time to make sugar cookies with the younger cousins and family.
There is peppermint flavored everything in the coffee shops now and happy memories to reminisce on.
And it doesn’t matter that the season doesn’t feel the same.
It doesn’t matter that the time you’ve spent with your family is a little off because of people missing or memories that feel hollow.
It doesn’t matter that movies don’t feel the same as they did when you were a kid because there is an immediate sense of happiness when an animated Christmas movie is on the TV.
It doesn’t matter that you're older and the tree doesn’t look magical, because you made it. You’re home for Christmas and you’ve got nothing but clear skies ahead.
There is no guilt when you go home for the holidays, no sense of “I should be working on this assignment” after finals end. And that is probably the best part about going home, the guiltless relaxation without worry about missing assignments and studying.
And maybe there will be snow?
Hopefully there will be snow.
Because Christmas time is here and everyone deserves to be happy.
No matter their worries.