The holidays have become a figment of imagination, full of unrealistic expectations and the pressure to perform. But that’s not how they used to be…or rather, not how they used to feel.
Somewhere along the way, wives and mothers have taken on the pressure to make their homes look like a homegoods store, having to buy new decorations each year to stay with the trends. It’s common practice now for us to decorate our homes by ourselves, while our families are away, so we can achieve whatever look we’re going for each year.
This year, Ralph Lauren Christmas is the goal, meaning most of us have been spending the last few weeks looking up ways to DIY decorations to achieve that look for less or shopping to get all new decorations.
We’ll nail it this year, without our families really “getting it” or caring, and then next year, a new trend will overtake our feeds and we’ll be stuck doing the same thing all over again. To top it all off, soon, they’ll tell us that Ralph Lauren Christmas was an embarrassing theme and they’ll shame us for decorating that way (shout out Beige Christmas).
The reason so many are drawn to the Ralph Lauren aesthetic is because it insights a feeling of nostalgia in us…it looks like the Macy’s Christmas brochures we used to see when we were kids. The problem with it, though, is that even if your home looks like Ralph personally decorated it himself, Christmas won’t feel any more real than it did when Beige Christmas was in.
What we’re really all missing is the feeling of the holidays…the feeling of making decorations, foraging wreaths, and baking messy cookies. But that’s not to be confused with all of the elaborate crafts and DIYs we’re all seeing on social media; if they’re not fun to do, they’re not going to bring you joy.
The secret is that it’s not about the outcome, it’s about enjoying the process. Christmas decorating used to be fun when we were kids because we enjoyed it. We were allowed to be creative and messy. Our homes didn’t need to feel like they were curated on Pinterest. The warm comfort and enjoyment we felt decorating was what made our homes feel special during the holidays.
Is this foraged wreath perfect? No, but it was fun to make and brings me joy when I see it now, and I think that’s kindof the whole point.
The saying “less is more” has been applied to many areas of our lives, but holiday decorating hasn’t seemed to make the cut just yet, but we have the power to put an end to that this year.
Instead of rushing off to buy more things you’ll hate by next year or spend days following meticulous craft instructions to DIY something that looks like it was made by Ralph himself, let’s prioritize decorating as a family. Let’s do things together, regardless of how they come out.