Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley

 

    Real short and bittersweet at barely 2 minutes long is Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas. The song actually debuted in 1948 by the improbably named Doye O'Dell and was then performed by a number of well-known singers before Elvis the Pelvis locked the song into his repertoire in 1957. The backup vocals were performed by The Jordanaires, a legendary gospel singing group entirely made up of white men who, to my eye, are clones of one another. But I digress.

    It's not lost on me that we've somehow fallen into the slough of despondency with our most recent offerings on this advent blog calendar. This goes to show that, even though I've come really far with letting go of my discomfort of the holiday season, there's still a vestigial nub. And, truly, one of the things that bothers me so much about the commercialism of this season is this manic, cracked-out commandment to SPeNd ThE hOLIdAyS WItH lOVed onES!

    What if that's literally, in all states of being, not possible? 

To my fellow Lonely hearts and introverts of the holiday season,  individuals overstimulated by all the noise and activity, people grieving a loss, or unable to connect with family/friends for whatever reason: I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say you are not less than, you are not weird, and this holiday time can be just as satisfying and fulfilling, maybe even more so, with a book and your own company as with half a dozen arguing relatives.