Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and many other holidays are days that celebrating is a common tradition for many. This may mean joining together with family, cooking food or making new traditions to commemorate for the years to come. To some, however, certain holidays are considered insignificant. As the standard holiday season approaches, people may begin to make plans for the important dates; however, there are some who would rather stay home for the day.

In Oprah Magazine, writer Jacy Topps shares the pleasure of spending her holidays alone. She enjoys the calm, serene moments in her home filled with nothing but food and the quiet buzz of a Harry Potter marathon playing in the background. Topps has learned that spending Christmas alone prevents the stress and frustrations she may gain from family arguments and tension.

Topps believes that holidays were created to make people happy and cheerful from dawn to dusk; if spending the day in her pajamas makes her content, that is what she will plan to do. This new tradition for Topps is one that she has individually created to avoid the headache her family resembles during the holidays.

Some people do not have issues with their family, yet still do not consider certain days of the year necessary to celebrate, be it with their family or not.

“[Easter] is just an ordinary day, which isn’t bad,” junior Natalia Meltzer said. “I don’t think you need to have an elaborate day for a holiday. It’s nice to relax and do nothing.”

Meltzer’s family does not get together during every holiday, specifically Easter, for religious purposes. While she does not spend Halloween with family either, Meltzer still relates to the excitement one may feel when seeing their favorite cousin at a family gathering; she believes that a holiday is a time to celebrate the people in the room, rather than any religious figure one may believe in.

For freshman Lillian McKinney’s family, religion plays a role in their holiday celebrations.

“Easter and Christmas are sort of a religious thing for us,” McKinney said. “[A holiday to me means] family and tradition. I value my family and traditions with them over hanging out with my friends for the holidays.”

The approaching holiday season may be a time for people to make new traditions or to honor any old ones. Meltzer may make some traditions on her own on Easter while McKinney may include her family. These things can make a holiday special for someone, leaving it up to them to decide how to spend their day.