Be Proactive to Beat the Post-Holiday “Blues” (Part 1)

Several years ago, I wrote a long article with personal recommendations for beating the “post holiday blues.” The Website the article appeared on has since folded. It’s time to reclaim this work, and, since I recommend starting before the holidays to avoid feeling bad after the holidays, I should put this out there ahead of the coming Christmas season for your consideration. It’ll be in two parts. I’m adding links to related blog posts on the subject from past years.

A song of the season says it all: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” For most of us, the holidays are an annual high point; so naturally, it’s all downhill from there! No wonder so many people experience post-holiday blues.

This natural response to the end of the holidays can be lessened or even eliminated. Here are a few suggestions for how to do that:

A key to avoiding post-holiday blues is to find something to look forward to after the holidays. To do this, it helps to clearly define the dates of your holiday, then devote your time and attention to the holiday season within those dates, excluding everyday pursuits and cares as much as possible. Gradually starting and ending your celebration can often contribute to feelings of let down.

weary Santa ornament

Even Santa can feel run down during the holidays! (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

The span of the holiday season is wonderfully elastic. Depending on personal or family preference, one can choose the beginning and ending dates of the season based on a variety of factors.

Retailers would be pleased if you started before Thanksgiving; many people use that day to start their holidays. Others wait until Christmas Eve. (see Feeling Holidaisical: Christmas Comes to the Zeiger Family Homestead.)

New Year’s Day seems a common finale to the season, although this seems a bleak way to end the holidays, particularly if the previous evening’s celebration has left you feeling haggard (see Preparing for Re-Entry). This customary end of the season probably accounts for most cases of post-holiday blues. Why not extend the season a bit further? Twelfth Night, or Epiphany (January 6th) is an old customary end of the Christmas season. In medieval times the holiday could last till Candlemas—February 2nd! Anything in that range seems fair. No matter what dates you choose to begin and end your celebration, someone somewhere has started celebrating before you, and will stop long after you’ve packed away your ornaments.

Conversely, consider ending your season a bit early. If your personal celebration is wrapped up before those around you, your transition to the everyday will be “cushioned” by sights, sounds and smells of the season continuing around you.

Next time: Part 2, music, treats, and suggestions on when to pack it up.

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4 Responses to Be Proactive to Beat the Post-Holiday “Blues” (Part 1)

  1. Eva says:

    Mark, I agree that if we have something to look forward to after the holidays, it helps with the let down of the holidays being over. When i was younger, the end of the holidays were marked by New Years Day…later, we decided Epiphany was a better time as it gave us more time to enjoy the holidays. I own a small gift shop and florist business so we are working right up to Christmas Eve so the extended time is much needed to enjoy the holidays. I appreciate your blog post addressing the post-holidays as I do find myself somewhat suffering from the “holiday blues” when I have to pack all the decorations away.

  2. Mark Zeiger says:

    Thank you, Eva! This started long ago as a writing prompt for that defunct Web site, but I quickly realized how vulnerable I’ve always been to post-holiday let down. It’s the emotional high point of my year, so everything else has to suffer at least slightly by comparison. Your comment makes me feel like I made the right decision to post this, even if it takes two parts.

    I hope your coming holidays are joyous, no matter how you celebrate them!

  3. Angie says:

    Mark, when I was growing up (granted, it was the dark ages) Christmas was a 12-day holiday. The traditional pattern, which even your Henry II would find familiar, was that the days leading up to Christmas (i.e., starting in December, not Hallowe’en) were for preparation: cleaning, shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, baking. The days from December 25 to January 6 were for celebrating: visiting, caroling, gift-giving.

    I think a lot of the problem these days is that people conflate the preparation with the celebration; they’re celebrating during the same weeks they’re shopping and decorating and still working or in school, and it’s too much. We’ve lost the pattern of having all the prep done by Christmas Eve, then enjoying the visiting, eating and music. No more shopping or cleaning, just visiting and celebrating and enjoying the lights and decorations.

    It always really galls me when businesses take down their Christmas decorations as soon as the Christmas shopping is over.

  4. Mark Zeiger says:

    Angie, in peppering these with links, I seem to have forgotten the times I’ve talked about “time out of time” for celebrating. That’s also key, and helps to lower the stress. I think you’re right, but I confess (and you well know) that I’m one of those happy idiots who celebrates as he shops, cleans, decorates, etc. If only everyone could be so bright eyed and bushy tailed!

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