The Twelve Memes of Christmas...

More relevant (and funnier) than the gifts given on the twelve days of Christmas, and with a lot fewer birds.

Dec 20, 2024

Most of us have reached the point of the year where we’ve mentally switched off from work. Some of you may be lucky enough that you’ve finished for the holidays already. Either way, it doesn’t seem appropriate to have anything too deep in this week’s Substack!

So I’m extracting some value from one of my less useful but nonetheless well-practised skills – Instagram scrolling 👀 – to present to you my Twelve Memes of Christmas. No partridges in pear trees or gold rings here, but a selection of sometimes funny, hopefully thought provoking and occasionally slightly pointed memes and quotes that I’ve enjoyed this year. Fair warning, a few of these are a bit sweary! If you’re reading this on a phone, you may need to click on the image to enlarge it to make it easier to read in a few instances.

If this isn’t your thing, feel free to quietly exit at this point. Before you do, please let me first wish you the very best for the festive holiday season, whatever and however you celebrate. Otherwise, read on and enjoy!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the courage do so things that scare you (a little). Thanks to Brian Bilston for these uninspirational quotes!

A series of Uninspirational Quotes from Brian Bilston, including: "Every morning is another chance to have an even less productive day." or "It may be too late to begin again, but it's never too early to go to bed." — @brian_bilston

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the patience and persistence to keep going, even when it feels hard. Because you might just be making more progress than you realise. From the always brilliant Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy.

Image shows a drawing of circles repeatedly with an arrow at the end, above it text says: “What it can feel like”. Next is text which says: “What’s actually happening” and shows a spiral going upwards with text which says: “making progress”. — @lizandmollie

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the compassion to survive the odd (embarassing) mistake. With thanks to @Iamthirtyaf and @thearchbishopofbanterbury for these gems.

The first image is a tweet from @GraniteDhuine saying: I just accidentally, prematurely send a work email to a supplier. It was supposed to say "I am afraid that we will have to reschedule our meeting." I hit send when all it said was: "Hi Dave, I am afraid". The second image is a screenshot saying: so accidentally signed off a work email "Should you have any questions, please don't. Hesitate to ask." this is new me now. The person posting, @Tarja_pk says "giving me ideas".

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the willingness to change our perspective. Or at least, consider how others might perceive the same situation differently.

Image shows: birds sitting on a wooden perch, depicting the staff hierarchy from the Executive at the top, next down the perch is middle managers and more middle managers to the front-line staff at the bottom. The text at the top of the image says: When Executives look down they only see shit. At the bottom of the image the text says: When Frontline staff look up they only see assholes. — @corporate_rebels

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the end of excessive apologising. When you need to apologise, do, but the rest of the time? Nope.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the gift of being clear and kind. Or sometimes just saying what we really mean.

These are from the always excellent @VeryBritishProblems and @wankernomics. (Click the image to enlarge).

The first image shows a list of 16 things British people say to you know your plan is very bad. And includes: 1. And you're absolutely sure you want to do this? 2. It's up to you. The second image shows a meme with the phrase, "With all due respect..." Meaning: "I have literally zero respect for you and I am about to outline some very, very specific reason why"

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the power of internal validation. Never forget that you’re brilliant, whatever anyone else might say.

Image shows text: First line says: Not everyone is going to think you’re gorgeous, amazing and magical. Second line: They’re wrong though. And the last line: Dickheads. — @momsbehavingbadly

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the gift of saying no. This wonderful letter from Charlotte’s Web author E. B. White reminds us of two things. One, it’s OK to say no even to “good” opportunities and two, we don’t have to explain why.

Image a letter dated September 28, 1956, it is addressed to Mr Adams and says: Thanks for your letter inviting me to join the committee of the Arts and Sciences for Eisenhower. I must decline for secret reasons. The email is signed off. Sincerely, E. B. White — @vanessacornell

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the confidence to do what works for you (and not listen to endless, often contradictory “advice”, especially from online influencers). You do you. Also, I can’t tell you how much I identify with Ursula Le Guin after 8pm 😂

Thanks to @iamemployedaf and @sensorystoriesbynicole for these.

There are two images of retweets. The first is by randy @randypaint who says: the early bird get the worm but the late bird just gets a slightly worse worm. there's worms everywhere. who cares. sleep late. do not let the worms dictate ur lifestyle. The second image is a list of times share by Dr Sabina Stent @SabinaStent who says A reminder that Ursula Le Guin's writing schedule was the best writing schedule. The times show: from 5.30am - wake up and lie there and think, 6.15am - get up and eat breakfast (lots) through to After 8pm - I tend to be very stupid and we won't talk about this.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the commitment to be(e) kind, always. I love this story, it’s so simple and yet surprisingly profound. I hope it is true! Images from Lo✨.

The two images show text describing how 3 bees who were covered in honey and looked like they would die, were saved by their Bee sisters, who cleaned them off and they survived.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the chutzpah of cats. Because we could all do with being a bit more cat sometimes.

Thanks to @theoddcatsanctuary and @catsoncatnipco for these nuggets of wisdom.

The first has text saying: I want to enter the room with the energy of a cat. “Is there anything I can fuck up or eat in here? Nah? Well anyway you’re lucky to have me”. The second is a Tweet by @JenKatWrites saying: You know who doesn’t get impostor syndrome? Cats. Not only does every cat know they’re a cat, I think every cat believes firmly, with conviction, that they are the best possible cat, the prime example of a cat, the most cat a cat could be.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…the confidence to be unashamedly you. The text in this might refer to girls and women, but it’s true for us all. How the world reacts to our confidence is not our problem.

Image shows a reshare of a post from Chloe Angyal @ChloeAngyal which says: girls and women don’t suffer from a lack of confidence, they suffer from an excess of experience in how the world reacts to confident girls and women — @the_female_lead

And finally…

While I hope these have brought a smile to your face, I know that the festive season isn’t a happy time for everyone. If you’re struggling, for any reason, it’s OK to not be OK. Do what you need to do for you, and reach out for support – to friends, to family, or to other support services. There’s lots of info on available support here (UK) and here (US), whether for yourself or a loved one.

Images from @fightthroughmentalhealth and @everymindatwork

The first image says: During the holiday seasion, it’s OK if… followed by six small festive images with text saying the holidays are hard for you, you are struggling mentally, your Christmas looks different to others, your eating habits change, you need alone time and you need to set boundaries. The second image says: Where you can get mental health support this Christmas with a list including Mind, The Samaritans, Shout, Anxiety UK and Cruse Bereavement Support with their contact information.

And if all else fails, remember:

An image which is a reshare of a Twitter posts. It shows a post from Roy Graham @Grayhaem and says: "Mankind wasn't meant to work in December. We were meant to hide from wolves, drink and pray our autumn harvest will last us through the Dark Months". — @Iamemployedaf

Thank you for all your support and views and comments this year. I hope you have a wonderful festive season, and may I wish you a happy and healthy new year.

Small Stuff Big Impact by Sarah Langslow

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