Merry Christmas, From An Atheist

In case you don't know, I'm an Atheist/Secular Humanist. I take solace in the principles of Secular Humanism just as strongly as a devout theist believes their religion to be true; because of my beliefs, I have tried to remove myself from Christmas. I don't believe Christmas should be a national holiday, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to remove myself from the celebration. I love light displays, decorating cookies, decorating trees, ice skating, and making gingerbread houses. I think that the Santa Claus fable is harmless, and many of my greatest memories come from the legend of Kris Kringle. In fact, I think that the story of Santa Claus is a useful tool. As a child I eventually grew out of the belief that there was a man, who knows everyone by name, can see all of my actions, listens to my desires, and punishes/rewards me for my actions (sound familiar?) That being said, the following is much less cynical.

This year Ben and I purchased decorations for our first Christmas tree, hung stockings, baked cookies, saw Christmas lights, watched Christmas movies, and danced in the living room to festive tunes (only for a moment, dancing makes me UN-FUCKING-COMFORTABLE!) This Christmas was perfection, spare the one tiny tradition I seem to be implementing, I have a horrendous cold! Poor Ben has been sleeping on the couch for four nights to gain a reprieve from my lung gurgle. Seriously, it is disgusting.


This Christmas was absolutely perfect. I am blissfully happy with my life, not including the ten, okay, fifteen pounds that I have gained. Apparently an education costs one pair of skinny jeans (3.7 GPA!!)