Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Christmas and the holidays can be a time of joy but they also be a time of stress and depression for many, including me. I hope this video will be a bit of a pep talk and that you will join me in the comments with ideas of your own to help cope with the Christmas blues. What are your strategies, tips, and tactics? Bring 'em on and keep reading for lists and links below.
******
Please check out my online classes on Thinkific at this link:
kelly-s-school-b1d1.thinkific.com/collections
To see printable scans of vintage French post cards and other paper ephemera from my private collection, they are here on Etsy:
etsy.com/uk/shop/BookandPaperArts
You can find more information and/or buy a vintage ephemera box in my online shop:
bookandpaperarts.com/french-ephemera-book-arts-boxes
*******
IF CHRISTMAS MAKES YOU SAD YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Here are some lists and ideas to go along with the video.
Here is a number for the Samaritans if you need help with suicidal thoughts. In the UK it's:
116 123
samaritans.org/wales/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/talk-us-phone
and in the states it is:
1 (800) 273-TALK
samaritansusa.org
Here are more resources if you are feeling suicidal at this or any time. They are really good people. Call them.
In the US, the Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
***
BOOKS:
David Sedaris. He is one of the greatest living comic writers and his books are like instant sanity restorers. I love everything I have read and regularly give copies of his books to others but this year I read Theft by Finding, extracts from his diaries, and was enchanted all over again.
I can re-read PG Wodehouse endlessly. Your library will certainly have some of his pieces and his Jeeves and Wooster stories are timeless.
Mapp & Lucia novels by EF Benson. If you don't know them trust me, you need to. I have read them about 12 times, not even kidding.
FILMS:
So many but I do have a few go-to movies that I watch if I need some serious mood adjustment.
• GalaxyQuest
• Babette’s Feast
• Hot Fuzz
• The World’s End
• Paddington 2
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Babe (the one with the adorable pig)
• Spy (with Melissa McCarthy)
• The Heat (with Melissa McCarthy!)
TELLY:
Ted Lasso
Parks & Rec
Schitt's Creek
Fawlty Towers
Absolutely Fabulous
The Good Place
Severance (not a comedy but maybe the best tv I have ever seen in my life)
30 Rock
FREE YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
Here is my new playlist on Youtube full of funny stuff and old movies, real comfort watching.
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWir7hWgZLNBDsCFvX1lPB5durxVZ2DEq
And to find more including photos of Lois's journal pages, go to my website here:
bookandpaperarts.com/if-christmas-makes-you-sad-the-cheatsheet
You can see Lois and her posts on Instagram here:
instagram.com/the_eccentric_aunt
Christmas and the holidays can be a time of joy but they also be a time of stress and depression for many, including me. I hope this video will be a bit of a pep talk and that you will join me in the comments with ideas of your own to help cope with the Christmas blues. What are your strategies, tips, and tactics? Bring 'em on and keep reading for lists and links below.
******
Please check out my online classes on Thinkific at this link:
kelly-s-school-b1d1.thinkific.com/collections
To see printable scans of vintage French post cards and other paper ephemera from my private collection, they are here on Etsy:
etsy.com/uk/shop/BookandPaperArts
You can find more information and/or buy a vintage ephemera box in my online shop:
bookandpaperarts.com/french-ephemera-book-arts-boxes
*******
IF CHRISTMAS MAKES YOU SAD YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Here are some lists and ideas to go along with the video.
Here is a number for the Samaritans if you need help with suicidal thoughts. In the UK it's:
116 123
samaritans.org/wales/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/talk-us-phone
and in the states it is:
1 (800) 273-TALK
samaritansusa.org
Here are more resources if you are feeling suicidal at this or any time. They are really good people. Call them.
In the US, the Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
***
BOOKS:
David Sedaris. He is one of the greatest living comic writers and his books are like instant sanity restorers. I love everything I have read and regularly give copies of his books to others but this year I read Theft by Finding, extracts from his diaries, and was enchanted all over again.
I can re-read PG Wodehouse endlessly. Your library will certainly have some of his pieces and his Jeeves and Wooster stories are timeless.
Mapp & Lucia novels by EF Benson. If you don't know them trust me, you need to. I have read them about 12 times, not even kidding.
FILMS:
So many but I do have a few go-to movies that I watch if I need some serious mood adjustment.
• GalaxyQuest
• Babette’s Feast
• Hot Fuzz
• The World’s End
• Paddington 2
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Babe (the one with the adorable pig)
• Spy (with Melissa McCarthy)
• The Heat (with Melissa McCarthy!)
TELLY:
Ted Lasso
Parks & Rec
Schitt's Creek
Fawlty Towers
Absolutely Fabulous
The Good Place
Severance (not a comedy but maybe the best tv I have ever seen in my life)
30 Rock
FREE YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
Here is my new playlist on Youtube full of funny stuff and old movies, real comfort watching.
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWir7hWgZLNBDsCFvX1lPB5durxVZ2DEq
And to find more including photos of Lois's journal pages, go to my website here:
bookandpaperarts.com/if-christmas-makes-you-sad-the-cheatsheet
You can see Lois and her posts on Instagram here:
instagram.com/the_eccentric_aunt
