Real happy or fake festive happy?


Happy holidays, my panettone people,

This is a beautiful song and a terrible text message.

My husband Danny and I recorded Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Famous lyric… but let’s be real - no one actually texts: “Hey Nick, have yourself a merry little Christmas!”

So instead, I picked something Italians really say to each other:

Auguro un lieto e buon Natale.
Literal meaning: I wish you a happy and merry Christmas.

It captures the spirit of the song here, but in real, local Italian.
Happy = Lieto Say it: LYEH-toh

Constant festive cheer can feel fake (capitalism…) so I think it’s funny that lieto does sound so free & happy (LYEH-toh) but looks like “LIE TO”. There’s a balance of authentically feeling joyful & feeling exhausted with fake smiling and being “lied to” by the illusion of a picture perfect holiday season.

Whatever you feel authentically this holiday season. it’s ok :)

I hope you have joyful times full of holiday cheer AND I also wish you a content holiday of stillness where you don’t need to “lie to” anyone about being happy if you don’t feel it.

In our video, not gonna lie we we were tired from a full week of gigs & travel, we recorded this quickly the night before flying to the states for the holidays.

Know a friend going to Italy? Don’t be a Grinch! Gift them my travel survival guide here.

Singing silver bells (not the Bell song),

Amanda


PS. More Grinch photos and videos coming soon on Instagram @amandaghosh
“The Greeench” - Italian vowel practice ;)

Amanda Ghosh

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