The Christmas Pledge 2020.

Hand over heart, I really am simplifying things this year. I really am. Christmas 2020 is still going to be beautiful. But MUCH MUCH easier (says me, every year always, just seconds before popping out of a cardboard box full of sparkles holding a full sized Christmas tree over my head.)

I'm feeling the need for absolute simplicity this year.  I am just wanting things simple. Super-simple. The kind of simple that people with a multitude of underpaid, foreign live-in servants experience.

I blame this on what is obviously my enlightenment. I didn't even TRY to become enlightened, it just  happened.

I don't mean to brag, but I think I've reached the level of maturity and peace of a Buddhist monk sitting on a feather bed covered in cherry blossoms.  I don't need the frivolous accoutrements of Christmas; not when I can soar above the material plane on just a wing and the spirit of the holiday.

Also - I mean, I'm just really tired. Aren't you? This year has been EXHAUSTING. And so it has me looking forward to different things this holiday season. Like NOT worrying for once. Like not feeling anxious. Like NOT greeting each day with a cup of coffee, a migraine pill and a panic attack.

As someone who normally commits to Christmas the way a lion commits to a gazelle, this is leading to a bit of internal conflict.

I do not want to drag out and put away a bazillion decorations this year - but I want my house to feel incredibly cozy, comforting and Christmassy. I NEED that.

I do not want to have anxiety attacks thinking of the perfect presents for everyone - but I want to get everyone something nice that they'll really like.

I do not want to make 7,000 different types of cookies and appetizers - but I want some special Christmas treats (Bacon Wraps are high on the list of stress reducing foods, very much like oatmeal only with a much higher risk of inducing a heart attack.)

I DO want to relax. I want to go for walks, not work as much, maybe do some needlepoint. 

But that's never going to happen, so let's get on with this.  The Christmas Pledge!! The guide to helping you CRUSH the Covid out of this Christmas season.  

The Christmas Pledge 2020

If you aren't familiar with it, every year I publish a post on how to get everything you need to get done for Christmas by November 30. That in turn gives you the ENTIRE month of December to relax. That means presents bought, decorations up, Christmas cards addressed and sent.  It's called the Christmas Pledge and this is its 9th year. Thousands of people have taken the Christmas pledge over the years and if you're one of those people who always feels like you're flailing and overwhelmed by the middle of December, this pledge is for you.

*Things really are going to be simplified a bit and Coronavirus will be taken into consideration this year.

A bit about shopping locally this year. I always encourage you to shop locally for at least some of your gifts. THIS year it's more important than in any other year - so I'm going to explain it to you in simple terms.

Think of the stores in your neighbourhood or town. Picture them in your mind and the feeling you get when you go into them.  Which ones would you miss if they were gone?  If you don't shop locally this Christmas season chances are those stores will close.  Forever. 

The Christmas season is when small businesses like local specialty stores make up to 30% of their yearly profits. This year, that means a business that is on the brink will live or die based on your decision to shop there. You don't have to buy all of your gifts locally (although that would be GREAT if you could.) But make a point to spend at least half of your present buying budget locally. 

I cannot state strongly enough that keeping local stores open is your responsibility. Yep. Yours. The stores have done their part. Against all odds they've stayed open during this shitshow of a year. The government has given aid. The landlords have forgiven rent. The local shops have paid for their stock, created the store and made it available to you.

The rest is up to you. 

It's time for you to take the Christmas pledge.  Repeat after me, 

I, Karen, (you can use your own name here - I don't blame you for not wanting to use the name Karen) pledge to do everything in my power to complete the Christmas calendar so I can reserve my December for hot baths, gloating, snacking on hot chocolate and toast, holding hands, watching movies, and remembering the olden days when my body sweated swear words from December 12th to the 25th.

Get your printable copy of The Christmas Calendar right here. 

If there's anything you really LOVE to do (like you're obsessed with making micro gingerbread houses), then leave those things for you to do in December.  Except present buying. Do not leave that until December unless you're picking up little things locally that you KNOW will be in stock, or giving gift cards. 

No matter what your holiday/religious/not religious affiliation, make your life as cozy as possible this year. And buy yourself stuff to help make it that way. I don't mean huge things like a new sofa or kitchen cabinets, I mean little things like a new flatscreen television and perhaps a small home addition for morning meditations.

Just kidding.   Get some scented candles and thick knit slippers. A really good book and a new blanket. Or a jigsaw puzzle and a bottle of Ativan. Whatever you need to combat all that 2020 has done to you. 

For extra, added support you can join The Christmas Pledge Facebook group where hundreds of other people will cheer you on and give you inspiration.

Print the pledge, stick it on your refrigerator or kitchen cabinet door and do it. Do it NOW because you're already stressed out and if you don't do it you will only become more agitated as Christmas gets closer. Can you even imagine being any more agitated??  If you get this under control starting today you won't end up suffering from ulcers, a limp or pink eye - which are all very likely if you don't.

On your marks, get set, ho.

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