When I pitched writing a story about other people's solo holiday traditions, my editor was skeptical. Would it be too sad, too lonely?

Not so! I spoke with a handful of people who either by choice or by circumstance, spend the holidays by themselves. Some like to go find holiday lights, others make treats that ring of familial nostalgia or open their doors to holiday "orphans." Some even dismiss traditions altogether because of the stress they bring and choose to do something a little different each year.

Spending the holidays alone doesn't have to be lonely. As Laurel Saville told me, "I just love doing the thing that I love. Everybody else is inside doing what they're doing, you're doing the other thing. It's like being in school after hours. It feels decadent and exciting."