For as long as I can remember, winter holidays have been one of my favorite times of the year. Not because of the parties (I don’t do parties) or the mostly bleak weather, but because Christmas marks the beginning of a blessed period of quiet. January 1st is the best. I love looking out the window and seeing the empty streets.
This year, here in my neck of the woods we’ve been blessed with an exceptionally long holiday, starting with Christmas and ending today with the feast of Saint John the Baptist. I have no idea when the latter became a public holiday, but with an estimated 2 million people bearing the saint’s name it kinda makes sense.
(Must have saved this image from Facebook, don't ask about any source!)
A two week holiday is unheard of for many Westerners and, envy aside, you can almost hear the bemused disdain in their voice when they say “Oh, really, everything’s closed… that must be nice!” Sort of “you, poor suckers, no wonder your country is poor, with such mentality”. Come to think of it, our authorities were very generous with this long winter holiday precisely because the economy has hit rock bottom and they announced a series of unpopular austerity measures over the past two weeks.
Would the country be in better shape if everybody went back to work on January 2? Obviously not. But this mentality has been driven into our heads - you need to work to keep the economy going. If you take an extra day off it’s the end of the world.
In our modern world, there’s no place for taking a few days off and doing nothing. Not to be confused with the two or three weeks of paid yearly vacation, when most people feel compelled to make the most of it - go places, see a number of landmarks, wine and dine, buy crap, get a tan. Back when I was working, I’d come back to work exhausted after 10 days at the beach with a young child requiring entertainment. Actually, I’ve heard many people saying they need a holiday after their summer holiday. Which, of course, they don’t get.
Winter holidays in the city are a blessing as there’s very little traffic, only a few supermarkets open and nothing to do, except rest, be with your family, take a walk, or visit some friends. Nobody is in a hurry as there are no schedules or deadlines to meet.
It’s a good time to consider and reconsider your life, finding out whether you’re happy to be at home, doing whatever it is that you enjoy doing, and simply being with your loved ones.
Is this where you wanted to be?
On the one hand, I don’t think that our governments want to encourage such behavior. I mean, if you have too much time on your hands you might discover that, indeed, you’re not happy with your life. God forbid you realize you spend your days trapped in a rat race with no cheese at the end of the maze. (You might argue that the economy is important, but I’ve heard of children being back to school on January 2. There’s clearly no profit there, but I suppose children need to learn from an early age they’re just cogs in the machine.)
On the other hand, I wonder how many people would be inclined to take a good look around themselves and come to the conclusion that they’re not happy with their lives. That awful moment when you realize you wanted something completely different. Maybe you dreamt of romance, but got stuck with a partner that checked all the right boxes. Maybe you had dreams of motherhood, but instead of enjoying being your children you cannot stop worrying about coming tests and college applications. You might also remember the hobbies you abandoned or never took up because there was no time or no money, or neither.
Why bother your head with the grim realization that you don’t have the life you wanted and never will? You’ll feel much better tomorrow when you have a clear and tight schedule. No time to brood over coffee tomorrow. You need to be out the door by 7.30 to beat the traffic and you can walk confidently into your office, where you’re Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so, from the So-and-so department. Your existence is clearly defined, everybody knows who you are and some maybe even respect you for the hard work you put in to get there.
No time to ask yourself who you are and whether you’re happy with your life.
Thanks for reading
When you're self-employed no one pays you to take a vacation. I have never had PTO in my life, that I can recall. I think kids here are back in school on Jan. 2. Dunno, I homeschooled, and that was a long time ago.
Thanks!