Christmas time is near once again, how exciting! At least it used to be. Now don’t get me wrong, I still totally love Christmas and the holiday spirit, decorations and gifts, but it just isn’t the same. I’m 17 now and Christmas feels a lot less magical. This isn’t something I’m alone in feeling.Lots of people feel as though they can’t truly enjoy the holiday due to the pressures of adult life, loss of childhood innocence and the commercialization of the holiday.

Growing up, nothing was more exciting than putting on matching pajamas with your family, making cookies for Santa, hoping you get to open just one gift early and then waking up on Christmas morning, nearly leaping out of bed to see what gifts had appeared throughout the night. We get so many years of that Christmas experience that when it’s no longer the same, it’s impossible to ignore the difference. 

As a kid, you ask for anything you find interesting, pretty or fun, even if it was ridiculously priced, because you don’t consider that type of stuff at those ages. As you get older and more into your teenage years, you become more expensive naturally, and the things your parents have to pay for that you didn’t ask for, you start to think about and suddenly you start to develop this subconscious feeling of guilt. 

You’re at an age where you realize money doesn’t grow on trees and start to consider your parents, and even other relatives who would probably like Christmas gifts as well, but being a teenager, you might not be in a financial position to buy a bunch of pretty gifts which makes you feel odd asking for anything. 

These growing responsibilities are one of the first real pressures of adulthood, and they slowly begin to drain the joy the holiday used to bring. One thing I believed in for years was Santa Claus. If anybody asks me, I still do. But I’ll never forget being eight years old in the third grade and having a substitute teacher tell my entire class, “Santa Claus is not real.” This teacher debunked just about every mythical figure, from the tooth fairy on. 

I remember feeling kind of defeated. When I got picked up from school that day and told my mom what I found out, she was visibly upset. Childhood innocence is precious and to have it snatched away like that is cruel. 

Back then, imagination was everything. We didn’t have social media to obsess over, so these people were our celebrities. I spent years wondering what Santa and Rudolph were doing in the North Pole and downloading apps on my iPad to “make calls to Santa” to let him know what I wanted for Christmas that year. Belief was everything and even after that day I still chose to believe in whatever I wanted, but it was nearly impossible to eliminate the doubt that had begun to grow. Now at 17, I believe in all those characters, not because it makes sense, but because it makes me feel good.

The way Christmas is commercialized now, it’s hard to maintain that old holiday spirit. Christmas feels like one big competition these days of who can spend the most money, decorate their house with an absurd amount of lights or even who can be the most minimal with their decor. I think people have lost the meaning of Christmas. It’s supposed to feel like a Hallmark or Disney movie. Everything is meant to impress social media and other onlookers. This takes the real-life enjoyment away because people tend not to consider life when the cameras are off.

I don’t think that Christmas has changed. Christmas only has one obligation: to occur each year on the 25th of December. But it’s our job to show up for Christmas, focus on the holly jolly feeling we’re supposed to have, watch movies, spend time with loved ones, be generous and live in the moment. All of those things combined with cookies for Santa is the perfect recipe for Christmas magic.