We are nearing the holiday season. Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la la, Yeah Right! I don’t think that any of us could have predicted that we would be smack dab in the middle of a pandemic during the holidays. Time to host a virtual holiday party. Host a Virtual Cookie Decorating Show. This pandemic is forcing us all to change our plans and look at our way of life. We are maintaining relationships via video chat.
This time of the year is difficult for some people as it is, then you toss in a pandemic, and you have the recipe for serious mental issues. Many are unemployed or underemployed and are already feeling the pressure to buy gifts when surviving is a struggle as it is.
Okay, enough with this Debbie downer, you know the facts, watch the news, and inform you. Isn’t it going to happen to you, right?
Make sure it doesn’t, and here are some tips to have a great holiday season. Celebrate with fresh new virtual Christmas party ideas.
If you are feeling the holiday spirit, put up all your decorations. That includes the plastic blow mold Santa that is missing the left hand. Make a spectacle of yourself. Put the tinsel on extra thick. Put on that Santa hat and glue cotton balls all over your Covid mask, and march in your front yard to “Baby, it’s cold outside.”
Give your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter friends a fashion show. Put on every outfit you own and post selfies. If you’re feeling extra frisky, mix up a cocktail and show off your bartending skills, or lack thereof. Do a Facebook live show.
Schedule a cookie decorating party. You can do this two ways. One way is to do it via Facebook room. You can also have a zoom meeting and invite your friends and family. Take turns at showing off your craft skills.
If you are spectacularly good or bad, do it live. Show off so the rest of us could either laugh or oooh and awe. Put on your festive soundtrack and jam it out.
We focus on the material things in life when we should be focusing more on the connection we build with others. Have a fun family gift exchange. Each person takes something from their home and recycles it. Decorate it and change it to look brand new. Okay, crafty kate can get away with doing that, but I ain no Martha Stewart. Instead, put together a gift basket of your leftover stuff you do not eat. A can of lima beans, a can of sardines expired four years ago, a half-eaten bag of stale corn chips will do just fine.
While it is fun to do all this crazy crap, you also need to focus on yourself. If you give someone a crappy gift and give you a Rolex or a vacation, be ready with your running shoes. Or a coat for when you get the cold shoulder.
You are the one closest to that person. If it offends them, do not give them a gift that will hurt their feelings. You could always write them a poem, sing them a song, or several other touching things.
Host a virtual happy hour holiday party. Invite all your friends.
You could also prearrange this crappy gift exchange. Oh, I don’t know… let’s call it a white elephant gift exchange.
My point, friends is this, we are all screwed up in this together. You thought I was about to say something sentimental, right? Gotcha. Okay, I am, and here it goes. You are valuable and when you are locked up in your house, apartment, studio, camper, or tent, reach out. If you are reading this, send me an email. I have created a special email address for our friends. TheDads@MyGayDad.us That will reach both my husband and me. The other email that will reach me directly MyFriend@AlanWild.us
Alan Wild, Author of Gay Mystery Books. | Author of 5280 Investigation Series
