The holiday spirit of the Christmas season usually gets blown over in a festive wave of marketing and turbulence. It is easy to lose sight of the holiday season when being bombarded with constant lights and decorations on every corner advertising some kind of product. Losing the true traditions of Christmas is very imaginable, as new trends begin to start that cloud over the originals.

The original trends that once defined the festive season are starting to be filtered out among the new traditions that are starting. The bustling market side of the holiday often overpowers the good times spent with family and friends, replaces homemade food with frozen food and removes genuine fun from the holiday season. Spending all of one’s time shopping for a gift can take away from the holiday that once brought a sense of coziness.

Traditions are starting to be ruled out more and more every year. Decorating and setting up festive items, like Christmas trees, is starting to be practiced less. Decorating a tree is a tradition that brings loved ones together, creating a celebratory spirit. The sale of pre-decorated trees has contributed to this dying tradition, as it simply does not give the same feeling as decorating with special ornaments with stories attached to them. Most trees have plain bulbs on them, but only the truly festive ones have personalized ornaments. Putting the star on the tree as a final touch after the hard work of decorating cannot be beaten by a pre-decorated tree.

Even having celebratory dinners with family and friends during the holidays has become more and more rare, as some fast-food restaurants have begun to stay open during the days nearing Christmas. Even though they provide a cheap alternative, they are often used as a lazy excuse to not prepare a meal to enjoy around the table with others. It also takes away from the workers who are called in on these days that they most likely want to spend time with their families.

Showing appreciation to loved ones has become less creative and unique. Buying Christmas cards from a store is a good way to show love, but it may not be viewed the same as a personally made card. Showing appreciation through store-bought cards is still great, but is often even more expensive than making a personalized one. Receiving homemade cards shows the receiver that some time and effort was put in, and those things cannot be bought.

The value of giving and participating in charity can be lost by the feeling of requirement to go spend money on the constant advertisements and marketization created by events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Even though buying gifts for someone is a good way to show love, it does not mean that a gift should be bought for the sole reason it is on sale for a good deal. The person being bought a gift would most likely prefer something that pertains to their enjoyment instead of something that they will not get any use out of. The season of Christmas means looking past price tags and into the feeling of kindness that the holiday season is built around.