I suppose I'm the weird one here, and there will be those who will take what I say as a personal attack, but I want to weigh in on the holidays and tools that I use to get through them.

One of the most effective tools I have in my arsenal? PsychCentral. The freedom to come and say whatever I need to say, scream when I'm at my wits end, and just pour my heart when some relative has tripped over my last nerve is such a wonderful thing. I can't say the things that I'd like IRL b/c sometimes it can hurt the whole family. I have relatives who are nuttier than a fruitcake, but if I were to call them on it, they would just take it out on another family member. So, we all tiptoe around it.

But it's different here. PC isn't a place where you have to walk on eggshells. . .or at least it shouldn't be anyway.

I guess my advice would be to post what you need to post. And you guys who read a lot, if you don't want to be pulled down, then don't read posts that don't "seem" happy or holiday appropriate. As far as wanting to "help" people, it's important to understand that individuals deal the way they are able to. Berating someone or a group of someone's for not choosing to use the well intentioned advice is not helpful. It turns people off.

Christmas is a difficult time of year for a lot of people. Despite my faith and strong foundation in Christ, it's still a very hard holiday for me. So, I WILL use the boards at PC to help alleviate the stress and strain.