Brilliant advice. And in case this is useful for anyone: here's how I do my solo Christmases (thread): https://twitter.com/timothycbaker/status/1330170275967721478

I buy myself Christmas pyjamas and a party dress. Last year was velvet, from a charity shop; this year is sequins, from eBay. The idea is to feel as cosseted as possible.

I also buy myself small presents in advance, and wrap them. As you can see this involves spending a certain amount of money. I'm talking a Paperchase biro, a new stapler, kind of spending levels, but you do you. I just like unwrapping.

I put up all the decorations. I also make new decorations, if I have time, so that things always feel new and nothing ossifies into sentimentalism or maudlinness. I light a lot of candles. I bring in bits of holly and pine cones.

I hate cooking. I HATE COOKING. So last year I had a walk, then went to my curryhouse down the road, and bought a big curry with all the sides I don't normally stretch to. I ate it off a nice plate with a candle lit and nice music on and a Christmas placemat.

This year I'm going to buy a salmon en croute from the deli counter in a supermarket - another unthinkable rest-of-the-year indulgence - and bake it.

Then I make something. I think this is important. One of the things I do in advance is buy an absorbing-but-not-too-challenging craft kit. Like a robot kit for 12-year-olds, or a felt-your-own-robin. That sort of thing. I do it in front of an unchallenging film.

Then I spend a certain amount of time commiserating with friends who are with their families, and having varyingly horrible times, because solo Christmases aren't easy, but families can also be really hard.

Last year's solo Christmas was hands down the best Christmas I've had since I was a child. Fill it full of small things that feel like a treat. Souped-up versions of regular stuff. Oh, and change your bedsheets on Christmas Eve.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm really sorry Christmas may well be different this year. But there are ways of making it okay, or even fun. Treat it as its own thing, not something inferior or stripped down. It's still Christmas even if it's different.

But also: Christmas is just a day, and it will pass, and then we'll probably all feel better.

OH: last thing - if you can, go and see some animals! EG: ducks in your local park.

Last year I went - ludicrously - to three (3) carol services: Christmas Eve mass at Durham Cathedral, midnight mass at Newcastle Cathedral, morning mass at Newcastle Cathedral. The church guys were giving me special smiles by the end of it. Not an option this year but -

- I am going to see if I can persuade some friends to sing with me over Zoom. Be warned, friends.

Last thing, honest: send your loved ones gifts, and do it now, even if you are holding on to hope that you might see them this year. If you do get to see them, yay! fewer gifts to carry. And post them now, because the post is going to be even more swamped than usual.