📿 I Don’t Know What Christmas Is, But Christmas Time Is Here

Navigating the holidays with joy and celebration

In the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, there’s a brilliant scene where aliens discover Earth instruments. Given the season, they immediately learn to play them and write a song about Christmas titled “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmas Time Is Here).” Over three delightful minutes, they hilariously misunderstand our traditions, declaring that Santa must be a master burglar with epic superpowers who also happens put dung in socks and enjoys shooting missiles at people’s toes.

From an alien’s perspective, you have to admit our holiday rituals are… bizarre. We chop down trees, drag them into our living rooms, and cover them in lights. We celebrate miracles of oil by lighting candles. And, perhaps strangest of all, we collectively lie to children about a mythical being who, as Neil deGrasse Tyson points out, would need to deliver gifts at the impossible speed of 25,000 homes per second.

The other day, a meditation student confided in me that she was feeling inauthentic this holiday season. She’s a practicing Buddhist, and something about the whole vibe felt off to her.

Curious, I asked her questions. Was she going to church and mumbling hymns she didn’t believe in? No. Was she being pressured by family to set up a manger or attend menorah lightings? Again, no. The issue wasn’t tied to the religious aspects of the season.

We realized the disconnect stemmed from the more subtle, insidious aspects of this time of year. Specifically, she was quietly pushing back against the consumerist overtones. As a Buddhist, she disliked the holiday focus on excessive spending, often on things we don’t truly need.

I get that. When I look at this season through the aliens’ perspective, it’s hard not to see how strange it is. For all the joy and connection this time of year promises, it often feels like we’re being herded—like cattle—into a frenzy of consumption. From the moment Thanksgiving dinner ends, we’re bombarded with messages urging us to buy more, spend more, and consume more than is good for us, or for the planet. Few things shine brighter during the holidays than the ever-watchful eyes of capitalism.

And yet, consumerism is only one element of the holidays. Beneath the Black Friday frenzy lies the potential for engaging in something deeper: joy, celebration, and connection.