For most of my adult life, I’ve fought taking down the holiday decorations. As someone with a strict “no tree until the turkey is stored” policy, I try to stretch the holiday feels for as long as humanly possible. Every year, my psychotherapy clients notice when my twinkling pink tree goes up behind me. And every year we have the conversation about how, just maybe, because it’s pink, I can count it as a Valentine’s Day tree and keep it up even longer.

And yet, this year, something shifted. As soon as the New Year had officially rung in, I began slowly pestering my husband about bringing in the boxes to store our ornaments and seasonal decor. Even the display of Christmas cards from family and friends, which makes me feel a little more connected each season, was quickly stacked into a single bundle propped beside our window.

Interestingly, some Christian traditions treat taking down decorations as a kind of psychological and spiritual closure: in many Catholic households, the Christmas season extends through Epiphany (January 6) and officially concludes with the Feast of........

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