What If You’re Glad You’re Not Spending the Holidays with Family?
If you come from a toxic family, a COVID-safe holiday may provide the space and perspective you need this year.
With the holiday season officially underway, the inevitable is happening. I’m seeing so many friends becoming increasingly depressed at the certainty of an isolated, COVID-style holiday season. Some of them haven’t seen their siblings or hugged their parents in many months, so the idea of not doing it for the holidays is overwhelming for them.
It breaks my heart to see people I admire and care about going through that. It also makes me feel bad for not being able to empathize better with how that must feel.
I come from a highly dysfunctional family filled with emotionally abusive, toxic people, so I’m voluntarily estranged from many of my blood relatives. That’s been my life for many years at this point. But if it hadn’t been, I know how I’d be feeling right now because I’ve seen a few other people out there feeling that way, as well, this year.
Despite feeling distraught over COVID in general, they’re happy on some level to have a “good” excuse not to entertain for the holidays or go home to visit relatives. Some of those folks are like me and come from highly toxic…
