Why: reasons for holiday spirit
No matter who you are, when the holidays roll around, you feel the spirit. The scent of warm hot chocolate. The late night sparkle of Christmas lights, scattered about the neighborhood. The relief given from a much needed, snowy day off. Whether you celebrate a specific holiday, or none at all, the warmth that radiates during the coldest months of the year is undeniably present, and it comes from a multitude of things.
photo by leyla dumke
According to the Cleveland Clinic medical center, as the weather gets colder, the skies get greyer, and snow begins to fall, seasonal depression is at its annual high. With these bad conditions, it is natural to desire social withdrawal. The laziness and fatigue that many so heavily associate with a rainy day is as ubiquitous a feeling as any. When it feels like it gets dark at three in the afternoon, it makes sense we have an instinctual desire to climb into bed. We cannot turn these emotions off, but we can, evidently, find ways to cope.
When Thanksgiving rolls around, many are already in full holiday mode. It is easy to feel a little less down with the joy of the holidays. Seeing loved ones or giving a special gift can sometimes be enough to lift a person from beneath the weight of a gross Tuesday morning in November.
In a 2015 experiment, Brad Haddock, a researcher from Denmark, attempted to prove whether holiday spirit was real. He showed two groups of people–one who celebrated Christmas and one who did not–various images, some of which were related to the holidays. When the holiday-related images came up, an MRI read that the front of the brain–the region that controls memory, emotions, and impulse control–lit up. This proves a “holiday spirit network” does exist in the brain.
Despite the difficulty of quantifying happiness, it is clear that the holidays bring this about. In a world full of stress and anxiety, it makes sense that people will gravitate towards that which brings them joy. Decorating for the holidays is one way that people feel spirit, because they either relate it to happy childhood memories, or are making up for the lack thereof.
"In a world full of stress and anxiety, people like to associate to things that make them happy, and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood," psychoanalyst Steve McKeown told Unidad.
Additionally, when many may be feeling socially malnourished, the holidays bring about a time for loving sociality.
"Holidays allow for many people to have more enjoyable social interactions with friends and family, and positive social interaction is a robust predictor of better happiness," Dr. Patrick Keelan in an interview with Insider said.
These reasons, along with others such as Vitamin D deficiency, religious and spiritual celebration, and childhood nostalgia all contribute to the feelings of holiday spirit.
To get more information on the feelings brought about during this time of year, and why they arise, I spoke to Zach Borre, 10 about his opinions.
“I love driving and seeing all the snow and christmas lights. It always gets me in the Christmas mood,” said Zach. Additionally, Zach spoke about why he thinks holiday spirit is so profound for him.
“The holidays always bring me back to my childhood. I have always been super excited and happy around christmas time just because of the anticipation and spirit that I still feel. I love all the time I get to spend with my family and friends and it’s nice having the time off school to relax.”
Studies have shown that, despite the bad weather and long to-do lists, the holidays are among the happiest times of the year. Bringing people together, exchanging gifts both sensate and inanimate, dwelling on happy memories, or mourning the less happy ones, the holidays will always bring out the strongest emotion in us all— spirit.