A Lonely Holiday?

Thanksgiving and the holidays that follow are going to look really different for everyone this year, but especially for those who live alone, these changes might hit particularly hard.

2020 has been a shitty year, sorry for the language, but it truly has and because of one thing: COVID. This pandemic situation has affected all of us as well as our relatives and friends. Many people have seen their classes switched from in-person to online which is heck of annoying, other people have lost their jobs, houses and so on. Anyway, my idea with this article is not to address these sensitive issues. What I want is to give some ideas of how to still make these Thanksgiving and Christmas still feel festive, despite everything that has happened. Whereas you can’t control the larger forces of the pandemic, I think we can all be proactive about planning a safe, meaningful holiday season. Here’s a few recommendations of how you can still enjoy the holidays even if you’re flying solo.

Make plans in advance

Don’t be like me and wait until the holiday is upon you to make a plan. Come up with something you’ll do on the day of the holiday: bake a pie, order takeout, work on a 1000+ puzzle, play your favorite songs, watch a football game or your favorite movie. I particularly like to watch Home Alone and Friends during the holidays. Knowing what you’ll be doing in advance, may bring you some peace. This way you won’t scramble to fill your calendar or hunt down supplies at the last minute, which will only add to your stress.

If you are thoughtful, you can check in what your friends and family have planned for the holidays. Perhaps you can ask a friend to join you on a socially distanced (safety first) coffee date on the day of the holiday before they celebrate with their family. Or use of one the most popular app of the moment, Zoom, by inviting a relative or friend to share a glass of wine during a 20 minute Zoom call. You don’t want to find yourself sitting around waiting for people to reach out to you.

Identify what’s most important to you. Focus on achieving it.

Pick something from the holidays that's totally SACRED to you. For example on Thanksgiving, it can be eating pumpkin pie, watching football or a marathon of your favorite TV show, in my case is Friends. For Christmas, it could be lighting candles, playing Mariah Carey songs until you get tired, decorating your house, eating panettone ( yeah I'm an Asian with some European traditions). Focus on a specific element and give it time, attention and care.

You can also create brand-new rituals. Perhaps you take this opportunity to create a new Friendsgiving tradition or incorporate a new recipe into your holiday meal repertory. Do what feels right to you.

Take a break from social media

If Instagram or Facebook or any other social media posts leave you feeling warm, fuzzy and more connected, keep scrolling down. Although, if it makes you feel vulnerable, comparing your own situation against someone else’s edited version of their life could bring up some negative emotions. Remember that the images and videos you often see on social media may not tell the whole story of another person’s circumstances. Just stay away from those platforms or at least curate your feed to minimize those kinds of posts if you find them overwhelming.

Relax

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can also use this time to take care of yourself and slow things down. If you’re not going to be in an Outlet store or Macy's shopping and traveling, kind of bouncing all over the place, get some more sleep (definitely not me haha) or go out for running or hiking especially if you're looking to make some room before pigging out on Thanksgiving.

Last but not least, don't be ashamed to say you spent the holidays alone, there is nothing wrong with that especially during this time. Have a nice holidays and stay safe folks. Most important, wear a mask!