December 23#: Festivus

Put a non-commercial spin on Christmas by enjoying basic food and decorations, airing grievances and even wrestling!
Everyone likes to enjoy the holidays in their own special ways, but one holiday stands out more than the rest, Festivus, a celebration that seems like a joke but actually is a popular holiday growing in the United States.
If you’re someone who doesn’t like the commercialism of the Christmas season, you are going to love Festivus.
After all, there is no denying that a lot of us can feel under pressure during the festive period.
It is the most expensive time of the year, and this can put a lot of financial strain on people, so, it’s really great to have a day that is the opposite of this instead!
The date was created by the late author Daniel O’Keefe, an American writer who worked for the Reader’s Digest for over 30 years.
Festivus is a bit of a family affair because it was actually Dan O’Keefe, Daniel’s son, who made the day popular by making it the focus of an episode of Seinfield in 1997, when Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) explains he invented the holiday in response to the commercialism of Christmas, that refers to the day as “a Festivus for the rest of us”.
On the episode, you will see that events that are very easy to explain are ironically called “Festivus miracles”, but there are also practices such as “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances,” as well as an unadorned aluminium Festivus pole, and even a Festivus dinner.
Whether you consider Festivus Day a form of playful consumer resistance or a parody holiday festival, there is no denying that it is a lot of fun, and it is perfect for anyone who is not a fan of Christmas and hates all of the commercialism that comes to the fore during December!
Conceived by author and editor Daniel O’Keefe, it was celebrated as early back as 1966 by him and his family.
While the holiday is extremely popular among people today, the first time Festivus was mentioned in American culture was in the episode of Seinfeld called “The Strike”, but there’s more to the name of Festivus than just a referenced television episode, right? Indeed there is, because the word “festive” is derived from the Latin word “Festivus”.
Sound familiar? Yes, It should.
Festivus is an adjective meaning “excellent, jovial, and lively” which in turn derives from Festus, which means, not by chance, “joyous; holiday; feast day”.
nSitcoms often combine holidays and family discord and one only has to look to our own families to find a little humor.
Moreover, it brings one to think, that maybe Festivus is to prove that we as humans don’t need material objects to be happy on a holiday, but all we really need is excellent company, jovial attitudes, and lively music to make the holidays the best we could have.

Now, to celebrate Festivus it is actually quite simple to remember and even simpler to do.
It is celebrated as a holiday by those seeking to find an alternative to the commercialism and pressures that the Christmas holiday shopping can cause.
In the episode of Seinfeld, they use an aluminum pole in place of a Christmas tree, and the O’Keefe family’s tradition was to put a clock in a bag and nail it to the wall!
Next is the dinner, which usually just consists of turkey, or in some cases to match the colors of the Seinfeld episode, meatloaf on a bed of lettuce. Afterwards is the Airing of Grievances, where each person at the table stands up one at a time and tells the others what they dislike about them and then how the world has disappointed them that year.
Finally, comes the Feats of Strength which is celebrated immediately following the Festivus dinner,
The head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges them to a wrestling match, and as Festivus tradition states, the holiday is not over until the head of the household is pinned by their opponent.
Of course, you don’t need to follow the traditional Festivus celebrations if you don’t want to, because this Day is against the commercialism of Christmas and all of the pressures that come with this, and you just could focus on this notion when deciding how to celebrate this date.
Why not send a message to all of your friends to check in on how they’re doing?
Let them know that they don’t have to worry about buying anything for you at Christmas or spending a lot of money, as that’s not what it is all about…