The Quiet Path • Guilty Pleasures
It’s Tiiiiime… Even If It’s Only October
On autumn drives, an unavoidable Christmas song, and the guilty pleasure of being ready for Christmas a little too early.
There comes a moment when it happens. You’re driving along, autumn colours drifting past your window, when suddenly a familiar song comes on the radio. Mariah Carey. Right in the middle of October, without so much as a warning.
All I Want for Christmas Is You.
Before you know it, you can picture her surrounded by snow, wearing that iconic Christmas outfit. And somewhere in your head, that unmistakable “It’s tiiiiiiiiiime!” rings out, as if someone has officially declared the Christmas season open. Just like that, you’re transported from an autumn afternoon to a world of twinkling lights and festive anticipation.
And there you go. You had been doing so well, too.
The Moment You Know
Let’s be honest: it’s far too early. Halloween hasn’t even arrived, and you haven’t so much as carved your pumpkin yet. And yet there you are, behind the wheel, your mind somewhere between a Christmas market in Germany and a snow-covered village square in Austria. You’re singing along under your breath or turning up the volume just a little louder than necessary, while autumn carries on outside as if nothing has happened.
Christmas is still weeks away, but your thoughts are already wandering towards twinkling lights, Christmas markets and songs you happily sing along to every single year. Your heart has already made up its mind. Your brain is still trying to explain that it’s October.
Good luck with that.
The Magic of the Build-Up
Perhaps it’s not even Christmas itself you’re looking forward to, but everything that leads up to it. Wooden market stalls, the scent of warming spices, steaming mugs held between cold hands and little streets that transform into a sea of lights after sunset. Outside, the days grow colder and darker, while candles glow indoors and the first Christmas songs drift through the room. Even an ordinary shopping street seems to take on a little magic, and a quiet evening on the sofa suddenly calls for a Christmas film.
You know the sort. A busy city woman ends up in a small town, falls for a lumberjack with a questionable past and eventually discovers that true love matters more than her successful career. And, of course, you already know every line of dialogue by heart. For the seventh time.
Perhaps that’s part of the charm. You know exactly what’s going to happen, yet you still enjoy every minute. Sometimes it’s rather lovely not to be surprised. Just a familiar story, a cosy blanket and a world where everything somehow works out in the end.
A Little Too Early
There is an unwritten calendar for these things: autumn first, then Halloween, followed by Sinterklaas, and only then Christmas. Anyone who ignores this sacred order is likely to receive a few raised eyebrows. Christmas music in October? Seriously? It’s almost like walking into the supermarket in your pyjamas. You’re perfectly entitled to do it, but you know someone is going to have an opinion.
Meanwhile, Christmas decorations have been sitting on shop shelves for weeks, while you’re still looking for a pumpkin. The calendar says October. The supermarket clearly has other plans. Still, there’s a difference between trying to drag the festive season forward and simply enjoying a moment when you feel like getting into the spirit. Your pumpkin can stay on the doorstep while you secretly sing along to Mariah Carey in the car. Nobody has to choose between autumn and Christmas, especially not over one song on the radio.
Guilty Pleasure, Without the Guilt
Perhaps that’s why we call these things guilty pleasures. As if we should feel a little embarrassed about Christmas songs, impossibly sweet festive films or an excessive number of fairy lights. But why, exactly? Not everything that makes us happy has to be useful, sensible or particularly meaningful. Some things are simply enjoyable. They bring back memories, make us laugh or add a little sparkle to an otherwise ordinary Tuesday evening.
We’re already busy enough with everything we have to do. Isn’t it lovely when a three-minute song can take your mind somewhere else for a while? And if someone catches you singing along at the traffic lights, just smile and wave. There’s no need to explain that you’re usually a perfectly serious person. Some pleasures are simply better when you don’t take them too seriously.
Let Autumn Be Autumn
Don’t get me wrong. I have absolutely no intention of skipping autumn. I want to walk among the colourful leaves, enjoy the crisp air and come home with cold cheeks, preferably without getting caught in that unexpected shower I, of course, forgot to bring an umbrella for. The darker evenings, warm jumpers and rain tapping against the window all have their own charm. There’s something rather lovely about an afternoon with nowhere to go and the rain quietly falling outside.
But I don’t have to wait for autumn to be over before I can look forward to winter. There’s something lovely about the transition itself. The first chilly morning when you reach for a scarf, only to discover seven odd gloves but not a single matching pair. The evening you light a candle for the first time in months. Or that drive when a Christmas song unexpectedly makes you smile.
They’re small moments, nothing particularly remarkable, but they have a way of making an ordinary day feel a little brighter. And sometimes, that’s more than enough.
So, When Does Christmas Begin?
For some people, not until after Sinterklaas. For others, the moment the Christmas tree goes up. Some patiently wait for December, while others have had their Christmas playlists ready for months. And then there’s the group who need only a few seconds of Mariah Carey to travel mentally straight into December.
Perhaps you’re one of them. Maybe you only sing along when nobody’s listening, or when the car windows are closed, which, practically speaking, amounts to much the same thing. Perhaps you’ve even started deciding which Christmas market you’d like to visit this year. Either way, when you’re driving along in the coming weeks and those unmistakable opening notes come on, there’s no need to tell yourself off.
Halloween is still to come. The leaves are still falling. But somewhere on the radio, the Christmas season has already begun. Mariah has done her job once again, and deep down, you know perfectly well that it’s still October.
But honestly?
It’s tiiiiiime…
Christmas may still be a little way off. But the anticipation? That can start now.
