Being a Southern California native I got to go to Disneyland a lot as a kid. There used to be this show with a mechanical Lincoln narrating this sweet and heartfelt history of what a great county the USA is. In my early 20’s (during my pre-college road tripping daze) I made it to Mt. Rushmore. There they have this beautiful film presentation, I don’t remember the exact details of it now but I do remember welling up with tears afterwards, so proud to be an American.

When I finally got to college, having no major, minor, or even certainty that I would finish I fell into history and social studies. “Holy sh*t” was my first revelation when I was assigned A People’s History, it was the opposite of everything I learned in school and culturally up to that point. The mechanical Lincoln at Disneyland even came up as a topic in class. Disneyland had been challenged with their version of history and their response was that it wasn’t their intention to portray an accurate history but rather how it could be or should be, or something like that. I think much of American media and culture is generated on that notion, how it could be or should be. Except it isn’t. And it’s intentional.

There are a few different perspectives to take, but the most important thing to look at is the impact of the holidays and its relation to the brain: its the most emotional time of the year – there are either those of us that associate happiness and joy with the holidays (let’s say Christmas and Chanukah for the sake of argument and time) or those that associate pain and disappointment. I think this all but influences your decision to stay with your significant other or bolt. When we make decisions, our brain must generate possible plans, evaluate their potential outcomes from following through on them, and finally choose the most appealing among them. Some brain regions-more primitive structures such as the amygdala-form and evaluate plans based on impulses and emotional value. Other regions, such as the more advanced prefrontal cortex, rely on rational considerations and are more concerned with long-term consequences.

I say that most of the time we are using our prefrontal cortex, attempting to make rational, logical decisions (for the most part) but if we’re swirling around in an emotional sink for a month, a month that culminates in one of the most stressful events of the year, familialy, monetarily, and demonstratively, we are most likely not using the most rational parts of our brains. Also, the spot RIGHT behind the prefrontal cortex is called the ventromedial cortex and this part of the brain is most associated with what we perceive as pleasure and wrapped up in the same region is where we recognize pain, and any of you into the Sado and the Maso arena of expressing oneself, knows that there’s a fine line between the two. What I think is that during such an emotional time as the holidays all three of these regions of the brain are all vying for the same result: sanity. And depending on whether or not you have aversion to your December-time holiday of choice, you may ring in the new year sans partner.