Those were the exact words my friend said to me over the phone the other day, and the worst part? I had to agree with her. 

Growing up, it’s easy to fall effortlessly into the magic and joy that is Christmas, but as teens, that magic becomes harder to find.

Suddenly Christmas isn’t about Barbie doll houses and toy race cars, it’s about hopping on trends, and buying the right decorations to fit a certain aesthetic. However, this isn’t the only change. As kids, we were viewing life with new eyes. It was easy to have joy because we hadn’t seen the ugliness in a world that was only filled with unicorns and rainbows. 

As teens, we are more mature, we have seen more of life, the good and the bad, and sometimes that can make us guarded, making it harder to enjoy things that usually brought us the greatest happiness. 

So, with all of this change and added opinions, how can we find joy in Christmas when everything feels different?

I don’t claim to have all the right answers to this question, I just know that I am not the only person trying to navigate the holidays while simultaneously trying to figure out why it feels like everything has changed. With that said, I hope that this article will give you some clarity and maybe even hope as you celebrate the Christmas season and prepare for the upcoming new year. 

As I mulled over this question, I continued wondering what it was that always made Christmases so magical as kids, and then I realized something. It was the simplicity. 

We never worried about having to make each Christmas the best one yet, or figure out how many Christmas parties we needed to attend and we certainly didn’t spend hours on social media comparing our experiences to those of our friends. 

Now this might just be my experience, but I’m willing to bet that I am not the only teen who remembers Christmas morning being the highlight of December. The anticipation, the joy of seeing all the gifts under the tree, was much more exhilarating than the pressure of having to get the best presents to then show off on our monthly photo dump. 

That’s why this Christmas, I challenge you to join me in my pursuit for simplicity, join me in focusing on the truly important aspects of the holiday like spending time with family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus, rather than only on the materialistic aspects.

Living simply looks different for everyone. It may look like being more intentional with one’s actions, like actively making time to hang out with loved ones or pursuing a hobby, or it may look like taking a screen detox to truly reconnect with yourself. 

Whatever simplicity looks like for you, I encourage you to lean into it, because you never know where it will take you.

It may not feel like Christmas for multiple reasons, but that does not mean that the joy and warmth of this season has disappeared, it is there, waiting to be rediscovered. By taking the time to focus on the memorable and most important aspects of this holiday season, we may just find that joy is not so far away, after all.