Quest for Christmas: Introduction

The dawn of the Christmas season is upon us, it's a time for merriment and cheer. But each year, I feel more and more numb to the festivities and I'm worried that Christmas doesn't mean as much to me as it used to. Maybe it's just a part of getting older, but Mark Kozelek's opinions on Christmas time hit closer to home each year for me:

'I think there must be something wrong with me,
Christmas is coming but I'm not happy,
I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel,
I just don't understand Christmas I guess,
You know I get the presents and Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that,
But I'm still not happy.'

I'm not quite that doom and gloom about it all as he is but each year I feel like I look more like this around the holiday period: 

So for the next month I want to dive right into all that good stuff that makes the season feel so magic. I'm go on my own little 'Quest for Christmas' to try and find out what gives me the warm Christmas feelings. Each post will be dedicated to something that helps me get in the Christmas mood, be it a bit of food, a movie, a song or an experience. Some of them will be broad, others much more specific and maybe personal, but hopefully it'll give me an incentive to find the holiday cheer and if you're lucky, some of it might rub off on you.

So, if this were a bumper for a Channel 4 celebrity holiday special I'd say something like this in my best Paul Hollywood voice:

'So join me, as I go searching for the holiday cheer.'