December 25 · The peak

Christmas Day

The one day the world quietens and you are allowed to do nothing.

All countdowns

About this day

Christmas Day is the peak. The day the cosy lifestyle has been quietly preparing for since September. Whatever you believe, whatever you celebrate or do not celebrate, December 25 is engineered for cosy. The lights, the lunch, the slow afternoon, the rest, the people you choose to be near.

It is also the day Happy Ber Months exists for. Not the gifts. Not the rush. The slow lunch, the slippers from morning, the lamp still on at three in the afternoon, the film with the lights still on the tree.

The point of it

If you take one thing from Happy Ber Months, take this: a whole day of cosy is allowed. You have earned it. Everything else stops. The world quietens. You are allowed to lean into it without apology.

Cosy ideas for Christmas Day

A short list of what makes the day actually feel like it.

Slippers from the moment you wake
Pyjamas all morning. There is no rule against it. There never was.
The biggest lunch, no clocks
Start when you start. Finish when you finish. The afternoon is yours after that.
→ Christmas lunch ideas
A walk in the cold air after
Twenty minutes, coat on, the world quiet, the lights starting in the houses you pass.
A film with the tree lights on
The old comfort favourites are best today. Pick one nobody has to argue about.
→ Family films on Letterboxd