Some people are big holiday people. I’m not a big holiday person. The only two holidays I go all out for are Halloween and birthdays. I guess birthdays don’t really count as holidays, but for me they are. Maybe it is me grasping at straws, but those are my holidays. That’s it, that’s all I celebrate. Nothing else.
I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving - that pesky stealing of land, raping of women, and killing of an entire race because they scare you think tends to make it difficult for me to enjoy.
I don’t celebrate Christmas because I’m an atheist and not into superficial holidays that exist solely because people want to give and receive gifts, rather than recognize the religious significance. I’m don’t celebrate any of the other winter holidays because I don’t subscribe to their particular belief system or belong to their culture. I may, occasionally, observe the Winter Solstice, but not in the weird new-agey way that people do. I just say “yay, winter is here!” and eat lots of food. Nothing special. I don’t give gifts for the winter holidays since I don’t celebrate them, but my knitting does tend to pile up around this time since I spend more time indoors, and have more time off from work/school. So, yes, I do give gifts during the winter - but I also give them during the spring, summer, and fall without a specific holiday, occasion, or birthday to associate them with.
[Major bonus to this plan: no last minute feverish holiday gift knitting! Only enjoyable winter knits.]
I try to do something special for New Year’s, but my plans tend to fall through, or I just want to stay home. I actually slept through midnight last year - I didn’t have anything else to do (all of my friends went out of town and no one invited me because they thought someone else already had, always a fun experience).
So it really boils down to Halloween being my big holiday of the year. You can imagine my excitement when I opened my favorite etsy shop and saw these amazing Halloween collections:
Not one - but two - Halloween collections! I had to pick one as my birthday gift from my mom (she is an appreciator of the fiber arts), but I pay save up and buy one of the others later on. I picked Spooky Socks (picture #1), but I absolutely love Monster Stash, too. It was a tough decision to make. The happy news being, of course, that Halloween comes every year, and I can grab another collection next year for my birthday.
I FUCKING LOVE HALLOWEEN.