Something about the holiday season separates it from the rest of the year. Whenever autumn rolls around, I am overwhelmed with feelings of anticipation knowing that Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all coming. With family rendezvous and lightheartedness comes a sensation of community and love. These reasons are why the holiday season is not ‘overrated’, but rather, the most wonderful time of the year.

The most important part of the holiday season by far has to be family. Nothing brings together family quite like Christmas. Christmas grants you the motivation to not only reach out to close family, but to distant family members as well, even ones you might not have spoken to in the last five years.

The best thing about family get-togethers is rekindling relationships in an environment of comfort and warmth. There is such an intense connection when you are physically with your loved ones, especially when the opportunity to see them is a rare occurrence throughout the year.

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the overall merriment. Halloween offers children simple happiness by allowing them to dress up as their favorite characters and receive free candy, Thanksgiving brings about gratitude and a sense of satisfaction of what we already have, and Christmas promotes the idea of unity and giving back to those we care about.

Without these times, the whole year would cease to be of great value. Just the thought of the holiday season brings a warm feeling to an otherwise cold and dark time of the year. And to say that the holiday season is overrated is an overstatement in itself.