I’ll admit, I’ve always been a sucker for Christmas movies. I can quote most of Christmas Vacation (Why is the carpet all wet, Todd? I don’t KNOW Margot!”) and Elf fills me with giddy joy. But this year, without even realizing it, I found myself sucked into the 24-hour loop of those Hallmark movies. You know the ones…every scene features picture perfect garlands and decor, the children are perfectly behaved, and Santa’s magic makes it so true love always wins. Are they realistic? NO. Is it what my soul needs right now? Absolutely.
I’ve been very open about my walk with anxiety and depression. This year … has been a thing. On days when I struggled to get out from under my weighted blanket, I found myself cuddled on the couch fully invested in yet another over-the-top sappy Christmas movie. My theory is this: My version of anxiety needs the calm of a predictable story. We don’t know what next week will look like, much less, next year — but I know EXACTLY what to expect from movies like “Christmas in Vienna” and “Jingle Bell Bride.”
My daughter made a joke, “You guys should make your own version of these movies!” We laughed about possible plot lines, a city girl who has it all except love or the single dad, who is alone due to divorce or a dead wife. It’s never really clear, but his children never seem to have issues adjusting to their new mother.
The act of creating these silly videos is like medicine for me. On a day when I felt like I was under a dark cloud, my husband and I typed a script and shot three scenes in our backyard. We posted this video the next day and had some hilarious responses.
With these amazing suggestions we obviously have to shoot more. Until then, enjoy Christmas for Christmas! (We ran out of ideas for the title).
