Seriously. Christmas lasted till FEBRUARY till the Victorians put a stop to it. Of course it did – January is a slog. Is it any wonder a so-called Blue Monday is on its way?

We needed something to get us through – shiny stuff, greenery in the house, wine all day, lots of singing.

But the Victorians wanted everyone out of the pub and back to work after the 12 days of Christmas – decorations down on January the 6th. And here we are. 

Instead we’re all meant to have made new year’s resolutions, reflected on the past year, adopted and probably already failed at veganism / going to the gym / basket-weaving etc by now. 

Blue Monday sounds gimmicky and annoying – it was apparently made up by a travel company. Which seems… questionable to say the least. But sometimes these things stick because they strike a chord. 

On disability…

Can I just send solidarity to any other disabled and chronically ill people who are still physically recovering from Christmas? 

So many of us spend January paying for the times we pushed ourselves in December, and to see all the clean living / fresh start / rollerblading can be jarring. 

Living in a time-frame so out of whack with the norm is an odd experience. 

I’m not going to seriously crusade for Christmas to last till February – keeping the 12 days of Christmas going till the 6th of January is the hill I will die on. (And if Christmas means socialising – and in fact moving at all – I’d have to bow out way before February anyway.) 

I’ve been banging this drum for god knows how long. But this past year I’ve stumbled on a few more people talking about this. Including historians, eg in a very enjoyable BBC podcast. And this:

“Once Christmas Day came around, if you had the stamina, then you were expected to eat, drink, be merry, dress up, play games, go dancing around the neighbourhood for 12 days solid before you collapsed in a heap,” Anne Lawrence-Mathers, historian

But our ancestors knew that January is a time for shiny stuff and getting through. And knitwear. Probably. 

I’m going to follow their example. The fairy lights are staying up, and we’ll be keeping the festive joy going for as long as we possibly can.

Join me.

– Lucy Catchpole 

[Image description: A mirror selfie – I’m a white woman with long brown hair, sitting in my wheelchair in my bedroom. Text on top of the image reads “Damn the Victorians. It should still be Christmas.” I’m wearing a brown crochet beret. Again. Brown cardigan & a brown skirt. What could my favourite colour possibly be? I am impenetrable.]