Holiday Purgatory: Is the Last Week of the Year Pointless?

It’s that time of year when there is a chill in the air, Christmas is over, and everyone is contemplating what their life will look like in the new year.

While it can be a time of hope for the future, manifesting new beginnings, or finding excitement in the possibilities of 2024, it can also feel like a time that drags on and feels relatively pointless.

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Christmas is over, the new year is a week away, and no one wants to be working during this time. We all would rather curl up by the fireplace, read a good book, take a nap, and simply exist. Many people take this time off of work for an end-of-year break, so even coming to work can feel like a drag with a mostly empty office.

It ends up making this whole week almost feel like purgatory. All of the fun from this year is over, and you just have to wait for the new year to finally arrive. It also ends up feeling like the longest week ever as you sit and wait.

I was talking with my coworker about this, and he proposed that we should simply shut everything down, 2020 lockdown style (minus social distancing), and simply exist for the last week of the year. Everyone simply does their shopping for the week in advance, no one has to go to work, and we all get to enjoy a week off to relax.

Obviously, that isn’t really practical, but a girl can dream.