Laid table, empty chairs, broken relationships, separated families. Christmas, for many times of joy and reunions, is tinged with nostalgia, sadness, anguish and restlessness.
Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: December 17, 2022
Laid table, empty chairs, broken relationships, separated families. Christmas, for many times of joy and reunions, is tinged with nostalgia, sadness, anguish and restlessness. The glow of these dates no longer exists. We no longer feel the joy.
There are no pomp because someone is missing, everything changes when over the years we lose the enthusiasm that invaded us as children, we no longer maintain our innocence, it made us enjoy every little detail that the resentments and absences of now do not allow us to enjoy .
Why are we flooded with sadness? When the holidays are approaching and the preparations, the gifts, the decorations and the choice of the menu begin, memories fly and minds think. We cannot avoid it.
How many are we on 24? And the 25? Who is coming and where am I going?
How many are we on 24? And the 25? Who comes? Inevitably, in the face of these questions, empty chairs appear. Empty chairs that correspond to people who are not there, who have moved or who have died.
Memories of past times, times that we now feel happier, more fulfilling, more ours than those to come and, of course, those of today.
"The distant person, whose life has taken another path, the one who has chosen not to be there, the one who has passed away." Empty chairs that accompany us on these dates and make the present moment sadder.
A suffering that we have kept anesthetized, asleep from the daily routine. Empty chairs hurt, fill eyes with tears, souls with pain and broken hugs.
They hurt, it is true, but in the empty chairs there is a space to welcome, to accept and to name without sad faces. Although it is permissible to cry for the absent, those who are present deserve our smile.
We don't have to try hard to be happy, but it is advisable to seek a state of peace and tranquility. Fear, anger and sadness are not perennial, although they frighten us.
Christmas is a contradiction
Christmas itself is a contradiction. The magic generated by sharing and reunion collides with the pain of those who are absent; nostalgia for the deceased or resentment of an empty chair chosen or caused by disagreements.
Those present should speak naturally. Otherwise, the shadow of the empty chair will spread a contradictory mood and create an atmosphere of broken words.
We cannot ignore empty chairs, but not even those that are occupied, full of presence and love. Probably not all occupied chairs offer us well-being, but this should not deprive us of the opportunity to enjoy the moment. Life, by definition, will at some point separate us from the chairs we adore today.
Empty chairs at Christmas
On certain dates, adored by some and unpleasant by others, we cannot forget about toast to everything we have.
It is always nice to raise our glasses and be thankful that our hearts keep beating. Let's rest the occupied chairs and remember the good times when the empty chairs were between us.
We wish you with all our heart to spend wonderful days, full of fun and complicity. Happy holiday!
