{"id":7912,"date":"2009-12-10T22:32:47","date_gmt":"2009-12-11T04:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=7912"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:52:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:52:45","slug":"11-ways-to-get-into-the-holiday-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/featured\/11-ways-to-get-into-the-holiday-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Ways to Get Into the Holiday Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. –Francis C. Farley<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are just two more weeks until Christmas. But you know, it still doesn’t really feel<\/em> like Christmas to me.<\/p>\n

I’m currently in the holiday spirit wasteland — that time after you leave adolescence but before the fun of Christmas is reignited by the arrival of Santa Claus-believing children. Some time during this period, typically in college, the holiday season starts to feel like any other time of year. You barely notice it and then suddenly Christmas comes and goes.<\/p>\n

It’s all part of growing up, of course. But while we advocate striving for mature manhood here on AoM, we also believe that paradoxically enough, the mature man is someone who retains a good deal of his boyish spirit. He simply knows how to harness it — when to reign it in and when to let it out. The holiday season is an appropriate time for the latter.<\/p>\n

I don’t know if there’s anything distinctly manly about the holiday season, but I do know that I’ve always really admired men who truly get into it. The men who don red vests and cheesy sweaters, who put up elaborate light displays and put on Santa suits, the ones who delight in finding just the right gift for people, and who just seem . . . jolly. Their eyes have that unmistakable twinkle of a man who hasn’t given up on the idea of magic.<\/p>\n

These men understand that while you have to grow up, it’s important to maintain a sense of wonder about the world and its possibilities. That in a cynical age, it’s okay to let go sometimes and tap into our less jaded selves.<\/p>\n

So if your holiday spirit-o-meter has been running low, here are 11 steps to letting in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Christmas and getting into the holiday spirit.<\/p>\n

\"Bing<\/p>\n

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth! -Charles Dickens<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

1. Turn on the holiday tunes.<\/h3>\n

Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit faster than music. Once you hear those familiar notes, those same strains you’ve been singing along with since you were 5, the warm and fuzzy Christmas feelings come rushing back. But to have maximum effect, you’ve got to listen to the good stuff, the classics. And sing along. Because as Buddy the Elf has wisely instructed us, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” Here’s a few of my favorites:<\/p>\n