Every year when November 1st rolls around, it seems as though a switch has flipped in the world. Not even 12 hours ago kids roamed the streets in costumes, knocking on doors for candy, yet, all of a sudden, green and red lights adorn the outsides of houses, evergreens stand proud in living rooms everywhere, and Mariah Carey makes her yearly reappearance. While it’s more uncommon to see the lights and trees right away, Christmas music always starts early. This year the radio station 93.9 LITE FM started playing holiday classics on November 4th. While many celebrated the start of the Christmas season by blasting “All I Want For Christmas Is You,”others promptly turned the volume down. This, however, raises the question of whether Christmas music should be listened to before December.
According to an article from Global News, a U.K. psychologist, Linda Blair, says that listening to Christmas music before December can actually be bad for your mental health. Blair says that, “‘Being forced to listen to Christmas music, especially in stores can result in people having pre-holiday stress.’” This essentially means that the music reminds you of all the small and stressful tasks that accompany the holiday season such as gift shopping, or the financial burden that comes along with it. However, Christmas music also carries an air of nostalgia and can be used as an escape from everyday life, school, or work. For a few minutes you can divert your attention to a song that paints a picture of curling up by the fireplace in a warm blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in your hand because Christmas is an overall comforting time.
So, what should you do? Abstain from Christmas music until December hits, or kick Thanksgiving to the curb and proceed with your regularly scheduled listening? To prepare yourself for the holiday season and to get the most out of Christmas, listening to Christmas music before December is the way to go. Like most things, though, it should be done in moderation. Don’t start replacing your usual playlist with Pentatonix’s newest holiday album right on the first day of November, ease yourself into it. This way, you get yourself into the holiday spirit without ruining the magic of Christmas classics before Christmas even arrives.