Why You Don’t Have to Take Down Your Holiday Decorations (and How to Find More Joy)

Jan 26

It’s January 10th as I’m writing this, and it’s struck me over the past week how many times I’ve heard someone say, in a sad and disappointed tone, “I have to take down my holiday decorations this weekend.”

I get that the holidays are over, and this is the time of year when people often take down their decorations, but it’s the words “I have to” that caught my attention.

Because there are no holiday decoration police. No one is going to knock on your door if your decorations aren’t down by a certain date and scold you or make you pay a fine for still having them up.

You can actually leave your holiday decor up for as long as you freaking want.

And yet somehow, taking down decorations turns into something that people feel like they “have” to do, no different than paying our bills, showering, and feeding ourselves - the things that we actually have to do to get through life.

So why is this?

Why We Feel Obligated to Take Down Decorations

Often it’s learned behavior. We treat what we learned growing up as the only way that things are supposed to be, rather than just one of many ways. If our parents took down decorations on January 1st, then we may also now take down our decorations on January 1st, because that’s what we learned to do.

Sometimes it’s societal and cultural expectations. After the new year, stores remove Christmas decorations and replace them with Valentine’s Day items. And if someone came over to my house in March and I still had a Christmas tree up, I would probably get curious looks and questions as to why exactly the tree was still up.

But more than anything, we as a collective whole aren’t great at prioritizing joy.

We live in a society where productivity and efficiency are valued over everything else. So when I ask folks what items are on their to-do list, they can rattle on endlessly about all of the things that they have to get done.

But if I ask them what they’ve done for joy and pleasure lately, there’s often pause and hesitation. There are times when joy clearly hasn’t been prioritized, and other times, when folks don’t even know what brings them joy.

And at the end of the day, holiday decor is about pleasure. It’s not an obligation - something that we have to put up or take down. It’s purely for joy. And it’s easy to forget that we have a lot of choice around how we cultivate joy in our lives.

There are many ways to cultivate joy, one of them being leaving up your holiday decor for as long as you would like.

Here are other favorites of mine:

Practical Ways to Bring More Joy Into Your Life

Eat what you like, and take the time to enjoy it.
Eating healthy doesn’t mean that your food has to taste like cardboard. You can incorporate foods that you truly enjoy eating, while still valuing nutrition and health. And similar to holiday decor, you can make your favorite holiday foods at any time of the year. If you absolutely love pumpkin bread, don’t wait until Thanksgiving - go ahead and make it in July if it’s something that will bring you joy.
While you’re eating, make sure to truly take the time to taste your food and enjoy it. Most of us sit down for meals in front of our TVs or laptops and then feel surprised and disappointed when ten minutes go by and the food is gone. Instead, put other distractions away and really make space to enjoy your food.
Think back to what you enjoyed doing as a kid and make space for it now.
Kids are great at cultivating joy, without the responsibilities that we as adults have. They easily gravitate towards things that they like, and they’re very willing to stop something if it’s no longer fun for them. So think about what you enjoyed as a kid. If you haven’t done it in a while, try it now and see how you feel. If you hate it, you don’t have to do it again. But you might stumble across something that could bring you joy into your adult life now.
Play around with home decor and clothing.
There are many things in life that we don’t get much choice around. But our home decor and the clothing we wear is entirely our choice. These are opportunities to express ourselves, be creative, and create spaces that bring us joy. Finances don’t have to hold you back either. Try shopping at thrift stores, consignment stores, and antique malls, for items where you can get a lot of bang for your buck.
Engage your senses.
Listen to music that you really like. Curl up with a super cozy blanket. Light candles with scents that you really enjoy. Put fairy lights up in your home. When we’re focused on getting through our days, these types of simple changes can go easily missed, but can make a huge difference in our moods and overall levels of joy and pleasure.
Move in ways that feel good.
I like to use the word movement over exercise, but exercise automatically implies intensity and dislike, when movement can incorporate a lot of different activities that actually feel good. If you don’t know what feels good to you, then try different things - try a yoga class, go swimming, play pickleball, or just dance around your living room. And see what movement feels joyful to you.
PLAY.
The definition of play is to engage in an activity solely for the purpose of enjoyment, without any serious or practical purpose. Most of us aren’t great at this. Even when we think we’re doing something for fun, we start attaching goals and self-criticism that quickly move the activity out of the play category. So when you’re choosing activities for fun, see if you can do them solely for pleasure. If you’re dancing or swimming, just focus on feeling good in your body, not whether you’re moving your body in the “right” way. If you’re doing a puzzle, pay attention to the satisfaction that comes from finding a matching puzzle piece, rather than how fast you’re completing the puzzle. It’s about feeling, not accomplishment.

Permission to Prioritize Joy

Finally, give yourself permission to allow things in your life that bring you joy and pleasure, especially when they’re doing no harm and only bringing good into your life. It can go a long way in navigating the stressors of day-to-day life.

And if you need the help of a therapist in cultivating joy, feel free to reach out - I’m happy to help.