If Today Is Just December 25 for You, We See You

And we're glad you're here.

For many readers, today is Christmas Day. But not for everyone. That is, the fact of the Christian holiday celebrated on this date doesn't carry the same import - or even any - for all of us.

Maybe your big celebration was for the winter Solstice. Perhaps you're wrapping up Hanukkah right now. Maybe you're gearing up for Kwanzaa. It's also possible that the big excitement on your horizon is actually the Lunar New Year, in January, or even the beginning of Ramadan, in March. Or maybe you're looking forward to a holiday that isn't on my radar at all.

But I bet Christmas has been a huge, glittery, red-and-green hurricane, crashing violently into your radar. Even if you're outside of America, where the present-buying, house-decorating, Santa-visiting, baking, wrapping frenzy is at its most fervent, you've still noticed that this ostensibly Christian, yet increasingly secular celebration seems to pull more than its fair share of focus.

I bet it's obnoxious.

Or maybe you typically “do” Christmas, but you're not celebrating this year. Maybe America's “triple-demic” is too great a risk to take for immunocompromised family members. Maybe you couldn't make your flight, or the roads were too treacherous, and you're unexpectedly separated from your loved ones, alone.

Or maybe you knew you'd be alone, and you just … can't celebrate this year. Maybe the people who made Christmas Christmas are gone. Maybe you've been sick of all this since before Thanksgiving, and you just can't wait to get back to the office.

Whatever the reason, if all of this holly-festooned, flannel-wrapped, snow-sequined performative “cheer” is not relevant to you, I want you to know two things:

We see you.

And we're glad you're here.

Please accept my formal invitation to enjoy your late December à la carte: take advantage of the Christmas stuff that could add positivity to your life, and ignore the rest! I mean, if you've been looking to upgrade your Air Pods or your TV, or to finally get an instant pot or an air fryer, there are some really good sales going on. And if you like chocolate at all, you really should enjoy some seasonal candy flavors - may I recommend a bag of Lindt's Peppermint Cookie Lindor truffles? - or at least pick up one of those five-pound Reese’s bars or something. Also, I can't oversell the seasonal Caramel Brulée Latte at Starbucks. Those suckers are delicious! Go see the movies that come out today. But the rest? Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Thank you for tolerating the runaway train that is the public celebration of Christmas. And please remember that we want to celebrate you and your traditions, too. God of the Desert Books was created out of the belief that any community or collective is made stronger by its differences. This is a reading and writing home for all kinds of people who are a bit different. We'd love for our group of various misfits to include you.

Happy late-December Sunday,

Sally Shideler

Managing Editor

Chief Editor-in-Chief Wrangler