My normal mode during winter holiday things at work is to find a reason I can’t go, and this year is no exception! Right now I am enjoying blessed silence in my office because everyone else is gone doing the festive thing.
Same thing every year, everyone looks at me sadly because they’re convinced I’m missing out on some great thing, and I serenely smile back at them while counting the seconds until they take their holiday cheer elsewhere. I get some glee from that, so you COULD say I enjoy the holiday. In my own special way, of course.
I love the winter solstice and winter in general, but the hegenomy of the season really drives me nuts. So I’ll be over here, genuinely enjoying the quiet and reflection that I associate with the season, while every one else loses their damned mind in bells and glitter and sweets. Cheers!
by the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea 
My nun friend that I have mentioned before always told me that during a Catholic Mass, it’s not the words that speak the message, it’s the silence between the words.
I agree that I tend to withdraw from the mad rush of winter. As it gets dark and cold, I would imagine that historically winter was a time for introspection (as there was not much else to do). As a rule, people fear introspection, so perhaps the hustle and bustle is to distract from nature’s silence — a kind of whistling in the dark. However, I welcome the introspection. My favorite childhood Christmas memories were of sitting alone in front of the tree, imagining that the varicolored lights were little fairies.
As an aside, my favorite “Christmas carols” tend to be associated with silence:
http://www.hymnary.org/text/let_all_mortal_flesh_keep_silence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still,_still,_still
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/o_little_town_of_bethlehem.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
There was definitely a running joke that my favorite hymns were depressing and German.
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