It is a fact that the present – but temporary – reality we live in does not allow us to feel the festive atmosphere in the way we would like. No walks in the decorated city, no shopping in the stores, no coffees and nights out with friends, no big family dinners... and this – as strange as it may sound to you – is much more than "okay"!
Looking back to your childhood or taking inspiration from past decades when everything was simpler and purer, you can see that even then, Christmas and the celebration of the New Year required almost none of the above.
This year, you can relive these moments and remember the true magic of the holidays, while also having the opportunity to take advantage of what new technologies offer you.
Below we give you 21 suggestions to achieve this, as many as the time that awaits us to live it as best we can...
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Make Christmas cards.
Get cardboard in different colors and various stickers, glitter, and decorations and craft your own Christmas cards, with your own personal taste.
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Send wishes to your loved ones.
After you make your cards, write wishes and send them to friends and family even if they are in the same city. They will appreciate it and you will come closer in a special way.
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Make cookies and biscuits.
Whether you live alone or have a family and children, it's a wonderful, creative activity for one or more people. Find recipes for orange shortbread and butter cookies and start creating.
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Do charity.
What is the meaning of Christmas without love and giving? Make food for those in need. Donate old or new toys to children from poor families. Give clothes and shoes that you no longer wear to those who cannot afford to buy new ones. Make a donation of any amount to organizations in need.
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He wore a Christmas sweater.
Wear the most festive sweater you have. And if you don't have one, take an old sweater and decorate it with pom - poms and iron-on patches of trees, reindeer, Santa Claus, or whatever else you want!
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Make hot chocolate.
Make the most amazing hot chocolate with flavor, marshmallows , sugar cubes, whipped cream, or whatever else you want.
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Light the fireplace.
If you have a fireplace at home, it's obviously the right time to light it. If you don't, you can put the well-known "virtual" fireplace playing on the TV and sit near the radiators or stove to feel the warmth.
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Read Christmas stories.
If you have children, choose your favorite Christmas stories to read to them at night, or wrap yourself in a soft blanket, make your favorite hot drink, and enjoy reading alone.
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Get some kourabiedes, melomakarona and diples.
Buy the most delicious Christmas sweets or if you can get your hands on them and you're in the mood, make them yourself!
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Play board games.
Large gatherings are of course prohibited during this period, but with the people you live in the same house with or come into contact with anyway, you can spend a few nice evenings playing board games of your choice: trival persuit, scrabble, dixit, taboo, are some great suggestions!
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Try foreign customs.
This year is the opportunity to experience the holidays differently, trying flavors and customs from other countries around the world. Search the internet for foreign customs and choose the ones that pique your interest. For example, you can try drinking gluhwein that you will find in a well-known German supermarket chain or make American eggnog to finally see what it is like. Also, make yourself British pudding, French Buche de noel or Swedish Pepparkakor.
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Make a playlist of your favorite Christmas songs.
While you're cooking, reading, cleaning, doing whatever you can, you can put a list of your favorite holiday songs playing in the background. We have one ready for you here on spotify.com .
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Watch Christmas movies.
Everyone has movies with a Christmas atmosphere. We recommend our favorites : Home Alone 1,2,3,4,5/ The Holiday/ Serendipity/ Love Actually/ New Years' Eve/ Bridget Jones 's Diary/ How The Grinch Stole Christmas/ Elf/ Disney's A Christmas Carol/ It's A Wonderful Life/ Miracle on 34 th Street/ Gremlins/ A Christmas Tale/ 8 Women/ While You Were Sleeping/ Almost Christmas/ The Polar Express/ The Santa Claus/ You'Ve Got Mail/ About A Boy.
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Sing the carols.
This year we are not expected to hear carols, so on Christmas and New Year's Day, grab a triangle alone or with your children and sing carols. If that seems excessive to you, you can simply put traditional carols from all over Greece on the internet.
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Decorate the house.
You may not have felt like decorating your home this season, but if you want to experience the festive atmosphere, you shouldn't neglect it. Even a day before Christmas, decorate with just a few lights.
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Decorate alternatively!
If, on the other hand, you didn't have time to get a tree or the couriers are getting ready to send the one you ordered for Easter, then try decorating instead. Form a tree on the wall with holiday cards you received or with wooden sticks or whatever you can imagine and decorate it with lights.
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Hang socks on the fireplace.
If you don't have a fireplace, find one anywhere. You don't need to put gifts in it, you can simply fill it with sweets, chocolates in the shape of Santa Claus, or some handmade creation.
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Make handmade gifts.
Since we mentioned handmade gifts, for those of you who "get your hands dirty," try to make your gifts this year affordable, but heartfelt gifts that were made with effort. Give your loved ones crafts, jewelry, paintings, or anything you've made yourself with love.
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Keep a diary.
During the 10-15 days of the holidays, write down every day everything you feel, everything you want to do, make a schedule for what you will do each day, so that you don't let any day get you down and go to waste without doing something festive that pleases you.
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Have a Skype meeting with friends and look at old photos.
Call your dear friends who are far away, talk, laugh and share your archives of Christmas photos from when you were kids until today.
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Write a letter to Santa Claus.
You won't send it, obviously. You can simply write a letter with a wish for the coming new year. Wishes that are written down have more power and are more likely to come true.
From us, Merry Christmas to everyone with health, love, luck, hope and optimism for a new year full of everything that each of us needs!
Daphne Tsartsarou