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Originally Posted by Charlatan
In the end, all of these celebrations are the same (with some key variations). They are all about family and friends getting together in a time of darkness to celebrate light and birth/rebirth.
They have more similarities than differences by the way.
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I couldn't agree more. The way I've found meaning in Christmas, as a non-Christian, is to go back to the roots of it and strip all the doctrine and commercialism from it. It's about celebrating eternal rebirth, the constant cycle or renewal that keeps us going as individuals on a daily basis and in a larger cosmic sense. I grew up with the traditions, so it's easier for me to carry on with the celebration, but there were a few years where I felt really at sea and Bah Humbuggy because I didn't see anything I related to in the celebration - all I saw was the greed and the cynicism and a bunch of religious stuff I didn't believe in.
Perhaps your SO can learn to appreciate the traditions of it for your sake, and I think it would be meaningful if you tried to incorporate something of his personality into the tradition, even if it's just making his favorite dish part of the big holiday meal, or finding something he does like about the whole hoopla and emphasizing that.