And I have loved every minute of it, unreservedly. But this year, I realise that the mood and the times have changed too much for even my once-a-year experiment in self-indulgence. We are being encouraged to think about our place in the world and our effects on the grand scheme of things – exhorted, quite rightly, to spend and consume less, and to make sure that whatever we do spend or consume is done as ethically and sustainably as possible.

More so than ever before, the presence and gravity of the climate crisis is being felt and understood. More so than ever before we are aware of the growing gulf between those of us who have more than enough and those who have far too little – the Equality Trust’s new research showing that the six richest people in the UK are worth as much as the poorest 13 million is the most recent stat to boggle the mind.

Lucy Mangan: “Why I’m embracing a zero-waste Christmas”