It's supposed to be the first day back to work for most people after the Christmas break. I knew the mood would be bleak like the bad weather because it happens like clockwork every year, after a two month Christmas escape break but even I am shocked this year at how low the energy levels feel with hardly anyone back to work.
It is times like this, when you feel let down like a burst balloon inside and look like a blown up balloon on the outside, that you must once and for all remember to stick to your New Year resolutions and vows to never touch a drop of booze again, right the way through the end of the month if not the whole year.
I opted out again this year and worked on my inner peace instead except for a family lunch on Christmas day, lovingly prepared by my Brother in law, a great chef, so the food was excellent. He made me a vegan Christmas lunch experience with amazing pumpkin delights and it was festive enough to enjoy once a year with few mince pies to end the day. I calculated without alcohol even my healthy, controlled indulgence Christmas lunch was almost two thousand calories and this for me, I like to maintain my weight, a good reason to keep the Christmas celebration to one day only.
It has been shocking standing on the side-lines and watching through social media, how people have behaved during the build-up, the so called big event and the aftermath of New Year, going from foreplay at the start, ending in one almighty anti-climax at the end, and today you would think it was the end of the world, definitely no peace on earth. The reality is, Christmas like Easter, Valentines and summer holidays are there to help guide you through your life, a bit like a life timetable made up by big brands, marketing machines and greedy business to make you spend money you don't always have.
I must say because I have observed not participated at all this year, I have never conformed to tradition, the human condition and particularly hate Christmas and New Year anyway, the world seems to have gone completely mad, suffering more than ever before from status anxiety and consumerism fever. Overindulging, over drinking and spending money we don't have on a credit card, the world is in deep depression, at home under the duvet, curtains closed holding on to the very last remnants of the longest most over rated holiday on the planet.
The only people having fun in the tropical sun without a care in the world right now because they are on a well-deserved (in their minds) holiday, are people like Amazon boss Jeff Bezo, retail giant Sir Philip Green Top Shop, X Factor boss Simon Cowell, paid for by us, the public. But even if you had all their money you would still likely be unhappy and depressed right now. Remember big billionaire bosses cannot thrive when we stop buying in, and they must return, then strategize how to fight hard to get flagging retail sales and TV ratings back on track to help pay for another luxury holiday next Christmas. No rest (or peace) for the wicked.
Update; Jan 2021
Much has changed in the last couple of years which shows us if nothing else things good or bad are rarely forever. If you'd asked me 2 years ago if I thought Topshop would be sold for a meesly £45 million, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the most powerful man in Hollywood would be in Rikers serving a 23 year sentence and we'd be enduring a national lockdown due to a natural rebellion, a global pandemic with millions of lives and businesses affected, I am not sure my anything is possible mantra would have been my response.
The one thing this last year has taught me is how grateful I am I had already worked so hard on myself and my peace of mind, something I now treasure above all else because without these highly developed coping skills I am sure it would have been much more difficult to endure.
Photo by: Jonathan Meyer Unsplash