Tis the season to be jolly! Or that’s what everyone tells us, anyway. December is the season of big cone-shaped trees (plastic) and of shiny lights (which are mostly plastic) and of heart-warming, soul-lifting decorations on the tree and around the house (totally plastic). It’s supposedly the time of year where you go out and share gifts, get together with long lost family, eat enough for three people by yourself and everyone is happy, getting along and singing cheerfully and sweetly to Christmas carols.

If you’re like me and this isn’t really close to what your traditional Christmas is like, Hi! Welcome to the club.

Not everyone is able to spend a traditional Christmas with their families – and let’s face it, not all of us want to. Actually, even if we DO spend a Christmas with our families, sometimes it’s more stressful than anything, or it just doesn’t last very long. But does this mean we can’t get into the Christmas spirit? Of course not! My personal philosophy is that you should celebrate everything just for the sake of celebrating. (New hair? Celebration! Good news? Celebration! Random holiday that you don’t really care about? CELEBRATION JUST BECAUSE!) Even if you can’t spend anything, there are ways to celebrate… and celebrating is fun, so why not?

If you’re looking to celebrate solo, the internet is probably the best tool you can dream of.  I don’t have any statistics or anything, but I’d bet that increasingly young people are having at least some form of Christmas celebration online. Why? Because you can still celebrate with others, you can send ‘gifts’ that don’t cost anything, and if people get snarky you can just log off and problem solved.

Many communities host Christmas themed events during December. Depending on the community you inhabit, the event could be a competition, a set of community-related gifts (like an advent calendar), or… well, the list is endless, really! Sometimes it can be as serious as a whole of December, community changing event, or it can be as silly as changing your display picture to something Christmas themed. If you’re a gamer, many MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games have events like festivals or world-alterations (like reindeer and snow) for the duration of December, and some feature a special something on Christmas Day itself. It’s good to remember that since many people don’t celebrate Christmas at all, lots of communities celebrate the ‘holiday season’ and some even go so far as to make no mention of Christmas Day, but celebrate the entire month just because.

Depending on your interests, chances are you’ll find a community that you like and that has some kind of event going on. If you’re new to any community, Christmas celebrations are often frivolous enough to help break the ice between new and old members, so it’s a great opportunity to make new friends that you can carry with you into the new year – even if you’re new, there’s no reason to spend it alone!

Here are some tips to get into the celebration season:

• Decorate. It doesn’t matter what you decorate or how, just make a change somewhere that says ‘I’m celebrating!’ Lots of people change their profile pictures with a snazzy themed one, but I’d suggest decorating your desktop… it’s kind of like decorating your house, only virtual! Decorate everywhere and everything .
• Get involved in an event. Whether it’s just collecting your advent prizes daily or logging in everyday to join in the fun, participating feels good and can give a boost to your holiday season even if you’ve got nothing else going on in your offline life. If there isn’t an event you want to join – find one, or make one!
• Give yourself a present. Maybe there’s that virtual item you’ve been eyeing for months, or maybe you just haven’t had time to sit back and relax. Get that item your heart longs for, give yourself permission to spend a day, an evening, a few hours or just half an hour doing only exactly what you want to. Go on, you deserve it. We’re celebrating, here.
• Eat tasty things. If there were a virtual way to eat I’d recommend it, but sadly our technology isn’t that great yet. It doesn’t have to be anything much, just find something you like to nibble on while you’re joining in your online celebrations, because very little gets the brain into ‘Yay happy celebration’ mode like food does!

The beauty of celebrating online is that there aren’t any huge expectations. There aren’t people you feel obligated to buy presents for, or to spend the day with even though you don’t get along. There isn’t going to be someone looking over your shoulder and feeling smug because they can afford more decorations than you can. There isn’t going to be that typical Christmas hater whose single goal is to be as grouchy and unpleasant as possible during the month. Conversely, online you can celebrate with friends from all around the world, people who will be happy to talk to you and will wish you a merry Christmas with a smiley emoticon instead of a grimace. When you celebrate online you’re celebrating to make yourself happy, not to meet the expectations of others. You can celebrate the way YOU want to, as much or as little as you want. It’s super versatile – you can celebrate solely online, or you can use the internet to supplement your offline celebrations.

All traditions start somewhere. If the typical traditional Christmas isn’t working for you, why not start a tradition for yourself? Find your niche in the world wide web and build your Christmas celebration traditions from there. The worst that can happen is you get bored – in which case I recommend more silly decorations.

Merry Christmas! See you online.

we would love to hear your stories of Christmas and what you do to make it one YOU will enjoy, either leave a comment below or create a video or audio entry via of Share your story page.

This blog was wonderfully written by Zoe, an introverted, internet-loving student fresh out of TAFE with a passion for the empowerment of young people. If you would like to create a blog for TINO please contact us at tino@den.org.au

Tags: christmas