It’s that time of year again, and no, if you thought I was going to say the lead-up to Thanksgiving, you would be wrong. Instead, we have begun a time of great merriment for some and woe for others. In stores and restaurants all across the country, Christmas songs are slinking out of their hiding places and returning to the spotlight. For those like me, these songs, although at first enjoyable, dare I say even merry, all too quickly become repetitive and grating. 

Every year I am reminded of Sisyphus pushing his boulder up a hill only for the boulder to roll down the hill. I am just like Sisyphus. I am stuck in the same endless cycle, but for me, the boulder is Christmas cheer. Every year from November to December, I push my unbearably heavy boulder filled with grief and sorrow of Christmas past up the hill (completely shrouded in darkness–curse you daylight savings) and I am bombarded by frivolous festivity. Some might say I sound like the Grinch–which is perhaps a fair comparison–but to that, I would say that Christmas is a holiday fueled by corporate greed and consumerism and also… Ba Humbug! But that’s all really beside the point, I just really don’t like having to sing the same songs over and over. However, like Sisyphus, I persevere. Some may catch me humming a Christmas tune or two (they are pretty catchy).

The only relief I feel during the year is in summer when the weather is so warm it feels sacrilegious to play any Christmas songs. Yet here we are again, the weather has turned, the leaves have fallen off their branches, the music echoes through the halls of stores throughout town and my boulder is more and more of a burden every day. If you haven’t heard the horrid carols yet, I’m sure you will soon because my boulder has rolled down the hill and it’s time to get ready for Christmas all over again.