Why Holidays Don’t Feel the Same Anymore

Holidays hit different when life changes.

In this episode, we break down how our experiences with holidays have evolved—from childhood traditions to adult reality. What used to feel exciting can start to feel routine, stressful, or even meaningless depending on the season of life you’re in.

We get into the contrast between growing up with big celebrations vs. barely celebrating at all, and how that shapes the way we view New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Easter now. There’s also a real look at how work, relationships, and expectations quietly shift what these days actually feel like.

It’s honest, a little all over the place in the best way, and way more relatable than you’d expect for a “holiday” conversation. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

You've never celebrated holidays, growing?

SPEAKER_00 0:02

It's not that I've never celebrated holidays. It's that I've celebrated like never celebrated. It's like we did Christmas. Mmm, then we went to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Or went to Cracker Bell for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Or went to Cracker Braille for Thanksgiving. And we that's it. That's pretty much it. But I'm but Chanley celebrated all types of holidays. And I was curious because we were talking about holidays and how different we all celebrate them. What if we and we don't have to stick to this, but what if we started off, I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight holidays here from ChatGPT. And what if we tiered all of them? Like S tier would be the top, top, top, superior tier. Then we're going to do that. Why can't we just rank one through A? Yeah. Because this is better. Come up with a different rank. And then A tier, and then it's like great. It's like B tier, C tier, D tier, or F tier. Get it out. I don't want this holiday anymore.

SPEAKER_04 1:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

So let's start with New Year's Day.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

One. A tier.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

New Year's Day, yeah. A tier? I don't know. Well, A tier is the best. S tier is the best.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

S is superior. So we're starting with the top ones right now? It means nothing to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

We're just going as the list goes down. Throughout the year. New Year's Day, S tier, Y.

SPEAKER_04 1:31

Renewing sanctification. Just the newness of it. Leaving what's behind.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Okay, Anthony.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

I don't really care for New Year's Day. The only, I mean, the only like part about New Year's Day that excites me is from Christmas to then, it feels like the world's on pause and it drives me nuts. So the fact that it's New Year's Day, alright, cool, tomorrow the world's back open. Okay, that's that's like my highlight of New Year's Day, is it's almost over. And we can get back to where what we were doing before Christmas. Well, no, because it's like to me, I don't need the New Year's Day to be the start of your quote unquote new New Year's resolution. I'm not waiting on that day to make the changes that I want to make. So no, I don't I don't really care for the holiday. Okay. So what's your tier? Where do you put it? Um God. Yeah, it can go. Really?

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Okay, I think you just need to pause for a second. Let's go through the rest of them.

SPEAKER_05 2:38

I don't know. You said F.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

Yeah, but like there's other ones, like over Halloween.

SPEAKER_05 2:42

Halloween can go.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Okay, there's not a limit.

SPEAKER_05 2:46

There's not a limit? There's not a limit on how many of each category.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I thought each one gets its own. No.

SPEAKER_04 2:52

This is too analytical.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

You just no, you're just graving it.

SPEAKER_05 2:55

Like seven holidays equal seven categories.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

We've never seen this trend. It's absolutely everywhere. Oh, it's a trend. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Well, we're not trendy, we're sanctified. Okay, we need grape here.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

New Year's is an S tier for me. It's the best, it's my favorite holiday of the year. Because Christmas is more hectic and stressful, I feel like, than anything. It's finally when you get to the New Year's that all the celebration is done, and then we actually get to relax and enjoy any of the Christmas gifts that we got, any of the time off, because there's usually still two or three days. Things are open, but two or three days where no one's really asking anything from you. Unless you work with Anthony. It does give this sense of not just renewal, but excitement of what another year could look like. And that's why, for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, New Year's my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Ditto.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Really?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Yeah, for all the same reasons.

SPEAKER_04 4:14

Like, yeah, is it your favorite holiday?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:16

Why don't we have a party or something? And we'll have Anthony. What's funny is we'll be able to do that. We'll ship Anthony away. Yeah. No, okay.

SPEAKER_05 4:26

So look, I like so the thing with New Year's, New Year's, like I've already planned New Year's in December. So it's more of like, all right, now let's get to it.

SPEAKER_04 4:40

Stop planning ahead like that. Enjoy the moment.

SPEAKER_05 4:43

To me, New Year's is the day where you can actually launch everything that you've been trying to do.

SPEAKER_04 4:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 4:50

Which is so it's like, yeah, it's great, but let's get to it.

SPEAKER_04 4:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

No, that's great. And let's get to it.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Yes. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_05 4:58

Okay. Has it graduated to a D or a C tier?

SPEAKER_04 5:04

It's like, let's do everything we've learned. Talk and fly, let's get going. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:08

Yes. And like you said, to me, people at work, like they're not mentally checked in yet. So you do get that little grace period, like the first week of the new year. It's like it's like a gray area. And people are still gone. And even if they're physically here, like they're not really here, people are still getting grace on like I know I asked you for this, you know, work, whatever, but I know that you've been gone. It's been the holidays, so like just as soon as you can, you know. Um, but yeah, for me, I'm like, I've already known what I want to do come the new year, and now it's like, all right, it's January like 5th, what are we doing? You know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Okay, so D, where would you put it after further discussion?

SPEAKER_05 5:50

Um A minus. For you. What is how many tiers are there?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

S tier is like God tier. The greatest couldn't be better. And then it's A, B, C, D, F. Like a C. Okay, C tier.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

That's a level up.

SPEAKER_04 6:05

That's like I'll barbecue for you guys, but I'm not gonna clean. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting takeaway. Lindsay. That that was your analogy. Um next holiday. Okay, next holiday, Valentine's Day. What are you thinking about? Um, just my answer. Okay, Valentine's Year's.

SPEAKER_05 6:26

Because I do like New Year's. I like what it represents. It's just the I I think I'm jaded with how other people treat it, and it makes me want like not enjoy it because people use it as an excuse to do things that they won. Either you can do at any time, so you like the discipline, or you use it as an excuse to start doing something that you're gonna give up on, like as soon as things get hard. So it it just it's it's annoying to me when people use it in a false way.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

In an observational way, like New Year's can be annoying because you're annoyed with how other people use it.

SPEAKER_05 7:04

Right.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Well let our or let our perspective override all of that, okay? Let our perspective override that.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

What does that mean? Like how we describe how we use it, or how you want to use it can be that. I totally get. I actually don't do any goals or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 7:22

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah, no, I do like what's this year gonna look like, what's this vision for this year gonna look like? But realistically, it's never a okay, this year I'm gonna stop doing this thing that I should have stopped already.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

There's never any stops, there's like starts for sure.

SPEAKER_05 7:38

Yeah, yeah. Or yeah, like big, you know, checkoff, like things that we are striving for, things we want to do more of. Um yeah, and then um, what else was I about to say? I don't remember.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Valentine's Day. What do you think about that one? You'll start this one, Lindsay started the uh New Year's Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_05 7:58

Not a fan. We'll celebrate like the day before, just to get a wave.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

No, we don't.

SPEAKER_05 8:05

What do you mean no we don't? What is a celebration? We go to dinner. We do yeah. What do you mean, no? You don't think we go to dinner? We don't. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

We eat, we talk about it, we talk about it, and then because of the way you feel, I agree with you. We're like, meh.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Is it another one of those things? It's like we should treat every day like Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_05 8:27

Well, I mean, we go out enough. Like we have our own day nights all the time. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:31

We don't we don't even celebrate Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_05 8:34

No, I mean I still get her flowers and stuff because even though one like flowers don't live long in our house because of the cats. Um what? Oh. Um I still get her flowers, and even if she says, like, don't worry about it, like don't, I'm like, okay, imagine if I don't though.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

Right? Like that's not maybe.

SPEAKER_05 8:59

Not for you, okay, but just in general. Imagine if I didn't, like on this on the one day you're supposed to, like he does he gets Valentina flowers.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

I'd say you probably focus more on her on Valentine's because you wanna, but I am also not really, I don't really care about Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Yeah, so what's your what's your tier?

SPEAKER_05 9:20

Where are you? Um I think it can go away.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Go away.

SPEAKER_05 9:23

Yeah, okay. It can go away.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

So that means F tier?

SPEAKER_05 9:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 9:27

It's a Hallmark holiday. You wanna celebrate your spouse, then freaking celebrate your spouse.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Yeah. Any day. Right. That's right. I He said that with a gangster looking on and streaming. I would put Valentine's Day in a B tier for me. I like it. It's definitely good for business. It's a good page because I always have oh yeah, there's always gonna be a gig on Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

We did a gig here on Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

This show here, so everyone's in the mood, and I love love songs, and I love love. And so that's always a great show opportunity for me. But the reason it's not higher is for the same reason that it that it is good for me for business, usually it takes something away from Chanley and I. So we usually it's kind of like every wedding I'm singing at. So I don't get to like be with just be with her at this wedding. Every Valentine's Day I'm usually singing. I don't get to do something um with her, but it is an opportunity to do something, even if it's the 13th or the 12th or the 15th, to do something. But I usually just get stressed because I'm a I'm afraid I'm gonna mess something up. That's usually how I feel about Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

But with her, like just the channel or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Like I hope she feels like I always want her to feel loved and seen, and I would say I do a pretty good job of that day in and day out, apart from holidays. And so then it's like, okay, well, what am I supposed to do for Valentine's Day? And like we said before, I kind of grew up without celebrating holidays so much. So you're not now, and so I don't think about it until we're maybe a week away, and then all reservations are taken, all the florists are taken, and I'm like, oh gosh. I then it's like, what am I gonna what am I gonna do? And her birthday's a week before, which birthdays is is fun. Yeah. But then Valentine's Day is like, oh my gosh, of course I gotta do something there. So with all that being said, I'm putting it out of B tier.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

She did tell me that she wants you, she wants to come downstairs when she wakes up on Valentine's Day. She wants you in your underwear on your piano. Right. Singing her a love song. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

That's easy. Yeah. If that's all I gotta do. One that you wrote every day.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah. Like put some clothes on. It's easy.

SPEAKER_05 11:59

That's like I like to do stuff like before, usually before Valentine's Day, like the day of, like before February 14th, do something. Because you just celebrate, you know, get it not get it over with, but you know, kind of get it over with. Because you know the 14th is gonna be crowded with a whole bunch of like lovebirds, and yeah, it's just gonna be annoying to deal with like the people who are just dating. Like, hey, we're like 15 years in. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

No, but honestly, I'm like, yeah, I'm like, really, you want to just get it over with, but at the same time, I'm like, let's just not even start it to get it over with.

SPEAKER_05 12:34

Well, it's like let's let's let's use it as an excuse to go have a nice steak and then go back to the house and chew. But we do that enough though, too. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 12:45

Yeah, I'm yeah, I'm with him. I don't know if it's an F tier. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Did you go? No, it's fine. Uh I think C. For the same reason. Like we every Valentine's Day you're singing, so usually like and we don't celebrate. Like we don't do dinner, like I usually don't get flowers. I guess it's like a sweet card. And every day, like every day, you make me coffee every day, breakfast, like I think I'm just now getting to the point where I I know how to pick out the flowers. Yeah, maybe so. I'm very picky.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

She's very picky.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Are you? I just want like one time he brought home like the carnations or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Notice they have a the like that's how impactful it was. The carnations.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

And my I remember my mom was like, those are female flowers. And I was like, I know.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Dude, I don't know. Like if you're saying they're female flowers, but she said, I remember one day he brought my mom wouldn't know that. The carnations.

SPEAKER_04 13:43

Do you know that they're we all remember that? Do you know that you guys can schedule and pay for deliveries ahead of time?

SPEAKER_02 13:51

I did that this year.

SPEAKER_04 13:52

But for like the whole year. Like, can you have these sent to her on this day, this day, and that day and put this in the car? So you can do that.

SPEAKER_05 14:00

Okay, thanks.

SPEAKER_04 14:01

Just a heads up.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

But it's like one of but it's like I don't I also don't like like I don't really care to be like celebrated. You know, like it's something big of a deal. So I'm like, we could just do it. Like, I mean, it's not that I hate Valentine's Day, but if we got rid of it, like that'd be fine, I think.

SPEAKER_05 14:16

Yeah. No, they all want fellows. They all want fellows, fellas. Yeah, on occasion, unexpectedly.

SPEAKER_04 14:22

I think unex unexpectedly it's bigger than you bringing them home to me. He used to used to do that all the time.

SPEAKER_05 14:28

They used to do it every paycheck.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

Yeah. But that's a lot. And that even that was nice that you made that a point. But like if you just randomly come home, which you do sometimes still, um that's nice. Yeah. Just out of nowhere. It means that you were thinking of me, you got out of the car, and you went and you got these flowers.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

That I think is knowing they're about to die soon.

SPEAKER_04 14:51

It's such an assignment, and it's like something that you have feel like you have to do on Valentine's Day. And I'm like, nothing, and nobody's gonna tell me what to do on February. Like, you can't have the whole day year. Shame on you, year. I'm not gonna give you that whole day. Like the calendar is telling you this is what you're doing on February 14th. You know? Like, no.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

So what's the next one? Interesting. What's your tier? Where do you put it?

SPEAKER_04 15:16

Um F.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

F, wow. Both of you guys.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

But but but the origins, the origins of St. Valentine's, though, which I've been very interested in learning the origins of these holidays. What is it? Um it's not F. What's above an F? D. D. So D. I give it there's room to learn about Valentine's. Because there's origins to all these holidays that we're not quite aware of. So I want to look into that. Okay. So it's a D. Yeah, I'm with you.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Next. Uh this is Easter, and I will start with Easter. Easter's another one where it's like a big job day for me, which is again tough because we're usually gone for Easter. We've been gone for Easter, I think, every single Easter. Since like we've known each other almost. Uh definitely since we've been married. Um and it's a tough one. Because obviously what it stands for is the most important, you know, next to Christmas or equal with Christmas uh holiday there is. But as far as the pure experience, um I'm giving it a C, just pure experience, because it's an always an early morning and it's me. And it's more than just like leading typical worship songs, like there's big arrangements and that's more fun. And then it's a good it's usually a good business day. But the separation from Chanley and us being gone from home can be tough. It's fun because a lot of times if we're at a church that we're comfortable with and that we know the people, they'll invite us for their for Easter activities, and that can kind of be fun. But um for me personally and my experience, I'd put it at a C.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

Where are we where we all be at on Easter?

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Dallas.

SPEAKER_04 17:14

Okay. A church.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Oaks church.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

You were there last year, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

I was there last week.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Oh, because you weren't in D. But anyway. For you?

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah, I think I would say like C, but growing up, like I mean my mom still makes me Easter baskets. Like growing up, my dad would show up at the front door with a big bin of chicks or rabbits, or like it was just always my dad is so creative, and so every holiday was like that. Like Valentine's Day, like huge balloon chocolates and Easter baskets, and so I love like that, getting like adult Easter baskets as an adult. Um, but strictly like celebrating with you, I feel like it's yeah, like it's just like another like heyday, like it's like a job.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah, man, I don't realize how much of a bummer holidays are with me. Not like just with like what my job, what the job of an artist, of a singer does to holidays.

SPEAKER_05 18:17

It just kind of makes them like, yeah, because it's more about you and work than the actual holidays.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:27

But you're home, like on your home on Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Not this year, I wasn't. We were in Hawaii though. Oh, yeah. It was a good thing. It actually is surprisingly way harder than I've been.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And I'm one of six kids. Like all my siblings are FaceTime me every holiday. Oh, we miss you so much. We miss you. We're all doing this. And so that's like that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

In the depths of it all, though, don't you love it that you're with one another?

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Of course.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

Okay, so that's like what we were going back to with like the couples who are on vacation, and you know that circus, like that's okay. I mean, as long as you guys are with I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Well, there's still I I I when we were thinking of the idea of being in Hawaii for Christmas, just us two, we were like, This is gonna be amazing. It's kind of like the um Four Christmases movie with Vince Vaughn, and they're like, Yeah, this is gonna be great. We're not gonna like we're just gonna I don't think I've seen it. Oh my gosh, it's so funny, it's so good. Yeah, I think I don't think so. But like we just need each other, and we're gonna be in Hawaii, neither of us have ever been, like, this is gonna be awesome. And there is an element of family that's not there, and it's just you guys, it's just you know, it was just us, and we enjoy the time together so much, and we get along so well. But there was this missing element that I did not expect, especially me being an introvert and someone who didn't really celebrate holidays much growing up, that I was like, I don't know if I'll do that again. Even if we had an opportunity to go to Hawaii for Christmas again, just us, I don't I don't think I would go for it. FOMO and have a tree. It was yeah, a little bit of FOMO and not necessarily not necessarily like fear of missing out on something. It's like I just missed I felt like we skipped over Christmas. I missed the family all getting together and watching sports and there being like a giant feast for everyone that I only eat like two plates of like of certain things.

SPEAKER_05 20:25

Hawaii doesn't feel or sound like Christmas. Yeah, so like I can only imagine actually being there. Like, like you said, like you just skipped over Christmas. Yeah, I can only imagine because like that's one of my favorite holidays, and I wouldn't want to feel like I've missed it at all.

SPEAKER_04 20:40

Yeah. I was in a plague hall on Christmas in Hawaii at church when I was angry. Yeah, I was about going on vacation in Hawaii. Uh-huh. Similar to your story and how excuse me, the family made the vacation bigger than the celebration of Jesus and blah blah blah.

unknown 21:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

It's gotcha. Yeah, you got you gotta get water. Okay, so after you regain your voice, give us um a tear for Easter. And then we'll have to do a part a part two, or probably part two and part three. Because we're just at three holidays so far. We're about out of time.

SPEAKER_04 21:24

So I feel the same way about Easter. She's not ready.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

She's not ready. She really does not like Easter. I know. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_04 21:33

I like Easter, but how you feel about like New Year's? Uh-huh. I feel that way about Easter and Christmas. Like, really, now you're celebrating Easter and Christmas. I myself do pay an even extra convicting homage to the Lord. And those holidays. I don't know. During Easter. So it's like, yeah, it almost convicts convicts me like I should have I should be more, it should be more of a holiday every day, but I'm gonna have fun. Yeah. Yeah. But I uh it's like a C Easter. But it is fine. Easter's fine. It's always been fun. It's springy. The pastels, the fields, the flowers. So my family has lamb for they do the whole thing and they eat all the stuff. I never would touch that. I'm like, can we have grilled chicken or something? But my family gets down like that. And then we do the communion. But us as a our family in the our intermediate household, we're is it intermediate? Yeah, we just grill and we hang out. And sometimes we don't even go to church on the Sundays. We'll go maybe the night before, but yeah. B. Okay. C. Yeah. B. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

B feels good. Yeah. All right. Well, that's part one of our holidays. We have Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas left. So that can be easy, easy topics for the next episodes. Until then.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

Happy holiday. Easter's coming up. Happy Easter, Jesus.