A Very Covid Christmas
Now, to be fair, I get excited about Christmas when the children go back to school in September. I love nearly everything about it. The only thing that gets my goat about the whole Christmas scene is people giving presents “that will do”. You know, when you’ve been traipsing around the shops, or websites, for hours without a clue what to buy for Great Aunty Mildred and in the end you grab a scented candle, or a bottle of talc because “it will do”, not because you know she would really love it and treasure it.
I would much rather someone gave me their time – go for a coffee together, on a walk with a picnic or have dinner [hmmm, bit of a food theme there] than buy me something out of a sense of duty. Personally, I tend to make people things rather than buy yet another token present. At least that way there is some effort and thought involved. The last few years I’ve made up little hampers with homemade jam, sweets, some Christmas bunting and for the lucky few, a little bottle of sloe gin tucked in the side. These have been extremely well received [or my friends and family are just very good at humouring me].
So, what will this year bring? The biggest part of my love of Christmas comes from having a house full of people. Growing up in Cornwall with all of our extended family in Scotland, Christmas was one of the rare times we got to see our relatives. That lovely warm feeling of all sitting around the table for extended meals, chatting about nothing and everything, re-establishing relationships, getting a hug from your gran, just made Christmas feel extra special. Fewer families live really close together these days, so I guess Christmas is one of the rare times when it’s a given that you all get together and strengthen relationships in person.
With the current Covid-19 situation looking like it’s going to get worse before it gets better and the uncertainty about how winter is going to affect the infection rates, it very much looks as if we are going to have a mainly virtual Christmas this year. We have Zoom of course and a multitude of other virtual ways to speak to our loved ones, but does that really cut the mustard when it comes to giving a warm glow? How much of our contentment and comfort from contact comes from being physically present with others rather than just communicating with them?
Dr Gary Brown [drgarybrowntherapy.com] says that, “Just the physical act of a kind and warm touch lowers one’s blood pressure and releases oxytocin. And it goes both ways – those that give hugs for example, also have a similar physiological reaction”. So, it stands to reason that being physically present strengthens our bonds and makes us closer and, to all intents and purposes, happier.
I think everyone knows that being isolated from friends and family has an adverse effect on mental health whatever your age, so it’s going to be more important than ever this year to make the effort to keep in touch by whatever means you can, but giving it some extra thought and care might really help someone who is feeling alone. Reach out to people that may not have daily contact with others through work calls or a big network of friends. Think about writing an actual letter and putting it in the post – there is genuinely nothing better than getting a proper chatty letter through the post. Maybe send some voice messages rather than texts so that people have a voice to listen to.
We don’t know whether COVID-19 is here to stay, nor do we know whether our current situation is the new norm forever or if it will change, so we have to readjust our ways of caring, communicating and showing our love for those that we would normally be with. There are lots of ways to help people to feel connected – we all just need to give it a little thought and consideration.
Written by Sarah-Jane
Sarah-Jane lives in Bridgwater, Somerset with her dog, Daphne and her partner, Simon. She loves walking and nature and volunteers for WWT at Steart Marshes. She also loves crafting and wishes she was actually Kirstie Allsopp (and had her frock collection).