Christmas gives us possibly the most perfect paradox of our lives

My friend leaned in, looking just as I imagine a KGB interrogator would: “So, what are you doing for Christmas?”

I instantly flinched and groaned before I’d even fully understood the question, and she snapped her fingers at me in triumph.

“See! You too!” she cried. “Do you know anyone who doesn’t respond like that when you ask about Christmas? Why do we do it?”

At this point the conversation fell into a brooding silence — because there is no easy answer to this question.

It’s possibly the most perfect paradox of our lives. The joy, the excitement, the pleasure of Christmas is eternal — I count down the days to it every year. But the dread, the anxiety, the angst is just as real.

Yes, we all have different Christmases: lonely or overly…