Ignore the Christmas 'drek' and the tacky music and you'll find more joy

It’s almost Christmas, a time that purports to be a celebration, but so often is torture.

Despite how it’s presented in films nobody should watch, Christmas can be really, really boring, if not outright sickly.

Christmas lights always appear in the lead-up to December 25

The streets in the cities become unbearable, not because of the fairy lights, which I love, but the number of people flooding them to spend money. Then there’s the pubs - my God, the pubs. Instead of being safe havens from the cold, they become overfilled with parties and people who seemingly have never used a pub before. They’ve booked tables, but somehow queue. It’s appalling.

You aren’t even safe in your own home, with adverts starting as early as October. It’s not that Christmas has come early, it is because capitalism needs feeding all year round. Supermarkets, takeaway apps, and an array of companies selling things you don’t need do their utmost to insist buying their products isn’t about their profit, but showing you love your family. Christmas is for everyone, but especially the CEO hoping to make the most of a tax break. If you still aren’t convinced, celebrities and people you used to respect are here to seal the deal, all of them as unconvincing as David Beckham flogging Stella Artois.

Phoebe Bridgers, a true Christmas icon | Getty Images for Coachella

This is all sound tracked by the most twee insufferable music ever conceived, none of which you’d listen to if it wasn’t Christmas. Each to their own and all that, but anyone choosing to listen to Slade in their own time goes on the naughty list, and their ears get filled in with coal. Wham! and The Pogues are great, but that’s it.

There is also the absolute state of Christmas television, which usually supplants having a theme or decent script with having a moral message, and one laid on so thick its writers won’t be happy until you’ve been bludgeoned over the head with it. Richard Curtis, I’m looking at you.

But despite all of this, I know it can be different. Another way is possible. For the shopping, it’s possible to ignore the online giants and go local. Support your community, and buy something you know a loved one will like, not because it’s reduced on Black Friday.

Also, why not listen to good Christmas music? Sufjan Stevens, LCD Soundsystem, and Phoebe Bridgers all have their own festive songs, tracks that are moving without being gauche. Christmas can be about seeing loved ones and cosy nights in, it does not have to be old men with bad hair screaming to remind you what day it is.

It’s a period where many of us have time off work, and that alone is cause for celebration. It’s a time to step back, see loved ones and finish that book you started, try that box set you never got round to, or simply reflect on the year, and the fact that we made it. Christmas can be arduous, dull and especially for those of us returning home, a reminder of the lives we were delighted to leave behind (family aside).

There is joy to be found, I promise. Ignore the drek on television, focus on the good stuff, and we’ll get through it.