Well, maybe everyone but me knew. The pope, centuries ago, decided on December 25 as Jesus's birthday quite arbitrarily. He didn't KNOW when Jesus was born, but he assigned the celebration of His birth to December 25 because it was already the pagan holiday of the Winter Solstice. Christianity was a new religion, and he thought this would make it more appealing to pagans, or at least not piss them off. ( "His" capitalized out of concern for pronoun referenc, not reverence. I am a way lapsed Episcopalian. )
In other words, we suffer through a wintry Christmas, with flight delays, blizzards, and all the extra hassle of cold because the Catholic Church decided it! This has completely revolutionized, and in a good way, my attitude about Christmas. To hell with Christmas carols, which are all about Jesus's birthday, and which, in me at least, stir up feelings of loss and lack, never had a perfect Christmas, never will. To begin with, it's a myth! The date's as big a myth as Santa Claus. Giving presents is a big fat retail overlay to what started as something dreamt up by a pope!
This is so liberating.
The thing to do is to go to Target and buy a bunch of votive candles and twinkle lights and make the whole thing a celebration of light in the dead of winter. I don't know the origin of votive lights--devotion?--and don't want to know. They can be adapted to any old thing I want. Have some pals over, drink some prosecco, be glad you love the person sitting next to you. The end.
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