Someone Please Tell WaPo About The Real Meaning Of Christmas

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s comeback victory, some leftists encouraged disappointed Harris supporters to boycott their Trump-supporting relatives’ dinner tables over the holidays. Now, The Washington Post has another cheery suggestion: just don’t spend the holidays with anyone.

Under the headline, “They love their family. They just want to spend Christmas alone,” staff writer Sydney Page featured three people between the ages of 25 and 40 who are ditching the holiday gathering in favor of a self-care day.

In Page’s words, they are “celebrating and luxuriating in their holiday aloneness.”

Citing the annoyance of travel, the pressure of gifting, and the overall “stress” of interacting with other imperfect human beings, they chose instead to spoil themselves. One is taking herself on a trip to New York City. Another will buy herself flowers and do a puzzle. A 37-year-old man chose to spend last Christmas watching movies and taking himself out for “a fancy four-course dinner.”

Look, not everyone is able to spend Christmas with family, and if that’s you, I hope you can spend the day loving on and being loved by whatever people you do have around you. But that’s not the case here, as Page’s headline makes clear. These people all have families who gather for the holidays and would welcome their presence. Liz Ivy, 30, told the Post she conveyed to her family at Thanksgiving that she’d be spending Christmas solo, and “it almost ruined Thanksgiving.”

To make herself feel better, Ivy “decided to share her Christmas plans on TikTok to lessen the stigma around spending the holidays solo and inspire others who were contemplating doing the same thing.”

Willfully treating the holiday as a spa day because you can’t be bothered to invest some effort into people who love you is the Christmas equivalent of the social plague J.D. Vance was talking about when he cracked a joke about “childless cat ladies.” It’s the “Christmas is all about making me happy” attitude we expect Santa-believing toddlers to have about Christmas, and why we have countless children’s stories written to disabuse them of this notion.

Christmas isn’t just about gathering with loved ones, of course. Christmas is a time to anticipate — and then celebrate — the arrival of the Savior of the world, who ransoms mankind from our own sin and, yes, selfishness. You don’t have to have a house full of people to appreciate that gift. But you do have to face your own moral failing and need for rescue by the Son of God. Reflecting on that need, and on the reality that almighty God became flesh and gave Himself up on a cross to rectify it, fills most people who aren’t total narcissists with gratitude, joy, and a desire to share that goodwill with others.

Does it take some sacrifices to share this love with family, or anyone? Of course. That’s why the gifts you receive that require thought and care from those you love are worth more to you than gift cards (there’s another Christmas classic about that). How could we not make sacrifices of time and energy to mark the greatest sacrifice of all, given for the most undeserving?

All too often, we perceive a need for the activities we brand as “self-care” when our real need is much more serious than lowering our stress levels. There’s nothing wrong with going to see the Rockettes or taking some introvert time. But if Christmas boils down to some “me time” for you, you’re missing the entire point. No matter how tanned, rested, and moisturized you are, no matter how much you “luxuriate in your aloneness” and lie to The Washington Post about how great it is, you can never provide yourself with the Christmas gift you most desperately need because ultimately, you are a sinner who needs to be saved from yourself.

Elle Purnell is the elections editor at The Federalist. Her work has been featured by Fox Business, RealClearPolitics, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Independent Women’s Forum. She received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @_ellepurnell.