Since high school, I have struggled to enjoy the holiday season because of how it always conflicts with finals. For many people, the end of the year is a time to celebrate and have fun with family and friends. This is not my experience since I always have finals and papers due, and then work throughout winter break. In addition, I work retail, so the time from Black Friday until New Years can be difficult. While everyone looks forward to this time of year, I tend to dread it.
Despite this, I always feel sad that I do not enjoy the holidays like everyone else can. I try to find little ways to celebrate the holidays even though I have lots of other things to worry about. If you are someone who also never has time to enjoy the holidays but wants to change that, feel free to take any of this advice!
Wear festive colors that remind you of the holidays! I love dressing up for every possible occasion, so if it’s winter, I tend to find myself wearing more green and red than I usually do. I also will base my nail color every month on what season or occasion I am celebrating. For December, I will do red to be more festive.
Adding simple decorations to my living space is another great way to get excited for the holidays. I have been loving the pink sugar plum fairy Christmas aesthetic I see on TikTok this year and I feel like that fits in perfectly with my room since it is already pink. I have a little pink light-up Christmas tree for my desk in my room, as well as Christmas candles.
Another way I like to celebrate the holidays is by getting more festive coffee flavors. I love studying at Starbucks, so I will get Christmas drinks instead of regular drink flavors, which makes it more fun and special, especially since they are only available for a limited time. My personal favorite is an iced chestnut praline latte!
These are little things I can do to make my everyday life a bit more fun without too much extra work. It is nice to embrace the holidays in these small ways while I am still working on finishing the year out strong.