I’m gonna be the bad guy and say it: it’s too early for anything winter-themed. 

In fact, the weather is too chilly for my tastes, and it’s just past mid-October. 

I’m not Ebenezer Scrooge or anything, but why is Mariah Carey blasting from your phone before Halloween?

It’s also hard to feel great about bringing in the cheer this early because it’s such artificial excitement. Some people adopt this yuletide cheer just to be obnoxious, and major corporations are soaking up the chance to bring in the big bucks for shoppers who hate procrastinating.

A lot of people don’t actually care about the so-called magic of the holiday season, and at some point, it begins to feel forced. 

Every year, thousands of social media posts go viral talking about how the holidays aren’t hitting the same way they used to, so where does the manufactured joy come from?

On top of that, people only seem to regard the holidays as the Christmas season, and completely disregard other cultures that maintain their own holidays like Hanukkah. They’re treated as second-rate holidays, because it’s harder to capitalize on them or romanticize their existence.

And again, I don’t hate winter. It’s not my favorite season, that’s for sure, but there’s plenty to like about it, whether that be Winter Guard and hot chocolate, or cliche Hallmark movies and starting the car fifteen minutes before you actually get ready to go so the engine thaws.

I just think that we could all stand to live in the moment a bit more, and lean into the allure of monsters and eat so many mini Hershey’s bars you get sick. Get hype for Halloween!