Why do you celebrate Xmas?

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Why do you celebrate Xmas or what does it mean to you? Especially if you are not religious?

This describes how I feel decorating my home with things which were my mother's, grandmother's and great grandmother's. Generations of the family come and go, but certain traditions in the family just carry on regardless, linking us all together.
That's what Christmas means to me.
That and the lights 🕯️🎄😁

Christmas is for children, and commercialism. Other than that, and getting together with friends and family, I find people go way over the top with Christmas expectations.

Because it’s part of British culture. There were midwinter festivals and celebrations involving eating, drinking, bringing greenery into the house and lighting candles and fires etc all over northern Europe before Christmas was invented. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why, in the middle of a long, cold, dark winter in northern Europe, people wanted an excuse to feast, get hammered and make their living spaces look pretty to cheer themselves up a bit when the days were at their shortest.

I think that general spirit is just very ingrained in us culturally, plus you don’t have to be religious (I’m not, and nobody in my family has believed in God for at least three generations and probably more) to feel attached to festivals that are a massive part of your culture’s history and traditions. I also celebrate Easter - again, a spring celebration is pretty ingrained in culture and tradition.

I don't. It doesn't interest me.

I celebrate it as it's a Christian feast day with the "christ" in Christmas, meaning Jesus christ, wether people choose to accept this or not. But as lovely as all the grandness, bright colours and presents are, I always try to remember the humble beginnings of the first Christmas. It will always mean something different to everyone, and that's great, but for me it's about faith.

It's a time to come together as family. I've lived 100s of miles from my parents and sibling for almost 30 years. Xmas is our time to come together and enjoy ourselves.
If it was 'Winterval' or whatever Pagan solstice celebration it is - then we'd be celebrating in line with that. I like in the UK so it's Christmas we meet & celebrate - even though we aren't religious at all.

It's traaaaadition! And I love it but I am quite partial to a fairy light.

I agree with the comments about it's a mid winter celebration.

Historically in Scotland it was the New Year which was the main winter celebration. Christmas was purely about the religious celebration, no alcohol involved. It was a standard working day up until the 1960s.

New Year was a winter festival with no link to religion. Over time and the commercialisation of Christmas has sort of taken over.

I celebrate it simply because it’s lovely.

It’s the one time of the year where everyone is off work together, people have lots of parties and there are organized things to do like markets and decorations.

I love the food, the lights, the decorated shop windows and downtown buildings, choosing and wrapping gifts, baking and planning the various meals. All of it.

I look forward to Christmas all year!

We celebrate it because it is traditional and for our children. Also for our family to get together - my parents who live at the other end of the country always come to stay. It is a lot of work but I enjoy it. I am not religious, but I do like the fact that we have been having a Winter celebration in this country (GB) for at least four and a half thousand years and probably longer.

This - Christmas because I’m a Christian, but also Yule- the very ancient tradition of feasting and decorating homes in mid winter.

Agree with this. Most religious celebrations have pagen origins.

Because I love it. We spend several days with each side of the family. We all get on really well and always have lots of fun. I'm 52 and have never had a bad Christmas.

I'm not religious, but I like festivals which mark the passing of the seasons, and I even like some of the religious side of it, especially the music, and will happily sit through a church carol service. Although I'm an atheist, I'm culturally from a Christian country, so I have a lit of nostalgic feelings for those things.

It helps that my family are lovely, that we have a good system of present buying, and that when we host (as we are this year), dh does virtually all the cooking!

I always find it odd that people are surprised at non-believers in Christian countries celebrating Christmas. It's part of our childhood and cultural heritage. I imagine it's the same in virtually every country in the world. Religions wane in popularity, but some of their popular traditions and rituals are retained.

I like presents, good food, being with most of my family, cheesy music on the radio and all the lights and sparkles and that "feeling" that comes with Christmas. It's also quite fun to be on the edge of not quite drunk but also not quite sober for a few days, too.

-Tradition. My family celebrated it growing up so I do.
-Fun.

Decorations, gifting, holiday, family, food and drinks and generally chilling out.

I‘m not religious at all. Though I don’t really do any religious aspects of xmas I do celebrates Xmas every year (decorate/see Santa/Xmas dinner etc). I think I do so because it’s my culture. I grew up celebrating Xmas, my school did Xmas productions, almost everyone I know celebrates it and almost every places I go recognises Xmas in some form. I celebrate it because it is a cultural tradition o have grown up with.

This is fascinating to me, I don't celebrate it because I'm. not religious (I do have a special meal with my children on the solstice as its a tangible marker). It's a bit sad some are going through effort and motions because of the expectations of others, I was faced with either participating or being excluded when a child and it is uncomfortable that it's still a season of having to fit in or conform for so many.

All of the people close to me have time off so it’s an opportunity to spend lots of time together. It’s nice to eat together, chat and buy them things. It’s lovely to see children so excited.

We’re definitely not religious and aren’t interested in that side of it at all.

Tradition - grew up with it.
Enjoying a winter festival - food, fun, twinkly lights, time off work in the darkest months

Thats about it. I’m not religious.

Tradition and I kind of treat it as a winter festival. Without it, I think winter in this country would be absolutely tedious. Something to look forward to.

It’s about the return of the light for me - the idea that in the depths of darkness there is still an inexorable natural order in the solar system that guarantees a return of the sun. I love the message of hope in that. And I love the sense of connection with past generations, through my mother and grandmother’s things as another poster has said, and right the way back to stone age peoples.

I love having my family gathered around. I love how simple, ordinary things about hearth and home become so precious when the it’s cold and wet outside.

I’m not religious anymore but I still love the Christian Christmas story because of how it centres the marginalised - the unmarried pregnant girl, the couple adrift from family, the homeless, the migrants, everyone caught up in stupid bureaucratic systems, and it tells of a god who isn’t indifferent or removed from us, but loves us and suffers and struggles along with us. I’d love to find a Christian church that wasn’t a hypocritical, patriarchal, and keen to oppress the marginalised.

I don’t like getting caught up in the commercialisation of Christmas. I dislike how easily it becomes about presents - I’d ban them entirely if I could. I resent the cost of it all. And I haven’t been able to disentangle myself. If anything I’ve raised two dc for whom the meaning of Christmas is getting expensive stuff.

I was brought up a bit of a pagan so less about the Jesus bits and focus on all the solstice bits. But I'm not practicing at all so it's a bit of a mishmash of my favourite cultural elements.
Love the lights, trees, mulled wine, singing, playing games, seeing family, father Christmas etc. Try and make it as special for the kids without too much about presents though do spoil them a bit. Try and make it more about coming together and eating shit loads of nice food.

Because the sun doesn't rise till almost 8am and it sets again at 4pm and if weren't for the lights, music and feasting with friends and family at the darkest point of the year, it'd be fucking miserable.

I'm from a culture that doesn't celebrate Christmas so we just 'join in' because we're in this country and my family all get Christmas Day and Boxing Day off.
It's nice to have all lights, markets, ice rinks and so on over the dull, cold dark winter.
We join in quite a bit!