I visited a friend’s apartment recently and noticed that she had already embraced the Christmas spirit: three stockings hung on the wall, a gingerbread man pillow sat on the couch, and a seasonal scent permeated the living room. Immediately, I compared it to my own apartment, where the living room acted more like a garage, storing my roommates’ bikes and miscellaneous cardboard boxes. This was a conscious choice—it seemed impractical to buy a couch and a coffee table when most of my time would be spent either on campus or in my bedroom.
Practicality is a mindset I have developed over the years. As a child, I wanted this and that. However, being told “no” enough times got me to understand that I don’t have an infinite supply of money to fund my infinite desires. I internalized the idea that money should be spent on necessities most of the time. So even though I still wanted pastel highlighters or a cute plushie, I knew not to buy them.
Luckily, some of my material desires have made their way to me through gifts. For example, I have been seeing Flower Market posters on Pinterest for a few years now. They looked nice, but I never thought to buy them for my room. One day, I visited another friend and I complimented her collection of Flower Market posters. To my surprise, she gave me some of the same posters because she had ordered a big pack of them online. After carefully arranging them on my bedroom wall, I was left in awe. My white wall was injected with pops of green, breathing new life into my bedroom. Paired with the flower pillow my sister gave me as a going away gift and the light pink bunny plush an old friend gave me in middle school, my bedroom suddenly became rather chic.
I shared this story to illustrate that I don’t buy decor for myself; I could never justify buying these pieces to myself. That also means that there is no way I would buy holiday decorations. They wouldn’t be displayed for long anyway. Yet, after going to my friend’s apartment, the concept of decorating a home for the holiday season finally clicked with me. It’s not just about making the house look good. It is an act of celebration. It is welcoming the new season and practicing time-tested rituals. And in winter, it is lighting up longer nights, warming up colder rooms, and brightening up foggier streets.
I am finally buying holiday decor for myself this year. I went to Target and let myself succumb to the coziness of the gingerbread man mug and the novelty of the light-up tree pillow. I found a Santa-themed gel cling pack for a mere dollar, which I eagerly hung up on my kitchen window when I got back. When this holiday season is over, I will store these away in a box, only to be used for the next holiday season. May they always bring some festivity during these darker and colder days.