ZOE ROGERS / OPINION EDITOR

The views expressed in the editorial and op-ed sections are not necessarily those of  The USD Vista staff, the University of San Diego, or its student body.

It’s about that time of the year where the excitement for the holidays starts to kick in. The weather gets cooler and we start to anticipate the approach of the holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. With  that  excitement, people are eager to celebrate Christmas. However, November is too early to begin Christmas festivities. 

I was walking in Fashion Valley about two weeks ago, and, to my surprise, I saw a huge Christmas tree sparkling with lights and ornaments of various colors. I was completely thrown off because we hadn’t even entered the second week of November, and suddenly, Christmas trees were up. Similarly, in USD’s Knauss Business School, there are also numerous forms of Christmas decorations, including snowflakes. While these decorations help fuel the excitement for the coming holidays, and because they were installed immediately after Halloween, this premature festive excitement for Christmas completely overpowers the enthusiasm for Thanksgiving. 

The middle of November is too early to begin celebrating Chritsmas. Even though I do love the holiday and the joys that come with it, Dec. 25 is still more than a month away. With Thanksgiving happening toward the end of November, there’s no reason to begin the Christmas festivities before Thanksgiving has even happened. Additionally, beginning our celebration for Christmas at the start of December would prevent holiday burnout. Rushing into Christmas can take away from savoring the fall season and the holidays that come with it, such as Halloween  and  Thanksgiving. Because Christmas is in the winter, maintaining a strong eagerness and desire for the winter when it is currently fall prevents you from appreciating the season taking place right in front of you. Extending the Christmas celebration for too long can also make it less exciting and harder to appreciate if it lasts almost two months, especially when listening to Christmas music. If you’re already celebrating Christmas for an extended period of time, you may feel completely over the holiday when Dec. 25 rolls around.   Christmas music can easily become repetitive, and many people can get tired of it once the holiday season is finished.   

I remember two years ago, I decided to get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier than usual. I put a small Christmas tree up in my room, began watching Christmas movies and started listening to holiday music. For a week or so, I felt excited for Christmas to come, and I was very eager for it to finally arrive. To my realization, I still had four more weeks till Christmas, and I had already been celebrating on my own for a little over a week. My enthusiasm declined as I realized not everyone around me had begun celebrating it yet, and I was in my own festive delusion about the holiday. Finally, when Christmas arrived, I was ready to get the whole holiday over with and I was grateful that I could successfully move on. I realized that the movies, music and decorations eventually get old, and if we’re not careful, when we begin celebrating, we can be over with the idea of Christmas before the holiday has even happened. 

It’s important to not be too ambitious to celebrate Christmas and rush through Thanksgiving. Photo courtesy of @Debby Hudson/Unsplash

Even though Christmas comes with a lot of joys, there are also some stressful components associated with the holiday. A significant  aspect in the celebration of Christmas involves gift giving. This tradition in itself can be a recipe for stress for  some people. Stress about how much money you’re spending, what to buy someone and making sure nobody feels left out are just a handful of reasons why Chritsmas’s gift giving can be overwhelming. Starting the holiday season in mid-November can prolong the stress associated with Christmas. By waiting until after Thanksgiving to celebrate, we could prevent the stress of shopping and planning from infiltrating our lives sooner than it needs to.

Plus, Advent, a significant part of the Christian tradition in celebrating Christmas, begins four Sundays before Christmas. Christmas’s holiday roots stem from the Christian religion. Celebrating the season early and getting caught up in other aspects of the holiday can take you away from Christmas’  true religious significance. 

Christmas is better celebrated when it is actually December. We still have a few weeks till winter break and a lot of exams to go. Celebrating this early can pose a distraction to us as students, especially if we are eager to get out of school. I know a handful of students who are planning on traveling home the weekend before Thanksgiving break, at the cost of skipping some classes; also, some professors are even canceling classes.

Although, people can choose whether or not they would want to celebrate Christmas early, or even at all.

Christmas is a special holiday, and, if you choose to celebrate it, it’s important to savor its festivities and the joys that come with it. Celebrating Christmas too early can cause you to lose the enthusiasm for the holiday when Dec. 25 comes. The best time frame to actually begin celebrating Christmas is when it is four weeks away, as opposed to the middle of November when we haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving. Rushing into a new season can cause you to fail to appreciate the season you’re in now. It’s important not to rush into a new holiday when you haven’t even celebrated the one occurring around you.

Celebrating Christmas too early can lead to holiday burnout. Lara Dominique Solante/The USD Vista