You are about to enter the Twixmas zone, and it can get very strange - Gaby Soutar

Only one sleep until Twixmas, which runs until New Year’s Eve

You are now entering the Twixmas zone.

This period between Christmas Day and Hogmanay is the strangest time of year.

The period between Christmas and New Year can be a strange one. Picture: Getty Images

It’s named after the archaic word, betwixt, since you’re stuck in the middle of two potentially jolly events, the latter of which will be rather scaled down this year.

Anyway, it is a limbo of sorts.

This is when important bits of new toys get lost down the back of the sofa, and you find that someone has eaten all of your After Eights, then put the wrappers back in the box.

Your bonhomie runs dry as guests outstay their welcome and the cat eventually manages to scale the Christmas tree like Edmund Hillary, but you can’t be bothered to stop him eating the tinsel. It’ll imbue his litter tray with a touch of glamour.

Gaby Soutar

You feel a bit like you did on those Sundays in the 80s, when shops were shut and Netflix hadn’t been invented.

There are always some weird thoughts to accompany these betwixt days.

Think of yourself as a large bag of muesli. It gets a good old shake over the festive season, and the heaviest chunks rise to the top. That can mean existential angst, unresolved grief, general sadness, anger and ennui. Feelings that you’d ported while you were distracted at work or safe in your routine, before buying presents, wrapping and cooking, come to the surface now that Christmas Day is done and dusted.

These may be difficult, or as minor as guilt because you forgot that the wrapping paper is not suitable for recycling, or irritation at being asked to play Scrabble by a wordsmith superior who takes sadistic pleasure at beating you with their overuse of qi. You’d like to sap them of their life force.

Although you could cheer yourself up with sybaritic leftovers, for the first time in a year you just want a salad.

In common with most holidays, there’s also the sense that you should be doing something extremely important. Perhaps writing a book, planning a new career or excelling at a new hobby, like paragliding. 2022 is closing in, and you only have a few days to completely overhaul your life.

The pressure. I say, release it. This is why people like to walk at Twixmas. It’s an ancient and therapeutic tradition. Just leave the house, and keep on going. Don’t take anyone with you, and move a little faster than you do normally. Steep hills are especially effective at extracting the tension.

Pick up a fresh box of After Eights at the shop, and maybe some vegetables.

Forget the grand plans for next year, and march away the weird emotions. A wise woman once said, you are a bag of muesli, and the Brazil nuts will sink to the bottom once again.

Paragliding can wait until 2023.

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