Are you Celebrating Twixtmas?

As well as Christmas and New Year, will you also be celebrating Twixtmas?

Over the last two years the Twixtmas movement has been growing.

Originally, it was a word developed by the US travel industry to describe the period between Christmas and New Year so they could promote these vacations.

The word has been hi-jacked by Andy Green, the man behind Beat Blue Monday, to promote a better way of celebrating this period.

As a rule the five days are sent doing very little apart from the odd sales shop and a visit or two to relatives. In reality, much of the time is spent eating, drinking and watching films on the television.

The Twixtmas campaign urges people to do something for other people, the planet or something beneficial to your future. It's a nice idea and offers people the chance to find their own level of engagement.

- The first day of Twixtmas is about spoiling yourself and thinking more positively about you, enjoy an indulgence.

- The second day of Twixtmas is to do something for someone else, help a neighbour or good cause.

- The third day of Twixtmas is to help a friend or maybe get in touch with someone you have not called in a while.

- The fourth day of Twixtmas is about doing something for the planet.

- The fifth day of Twixtmas is to do something for your future, maybe think about your goals for 2011 or learn a new skill.

So for day four you could do everything from recycling your cards to setting up a neighbourhood litter pick using up you Christmas scraps rather than throwing them away. Equally, if you miss the odd day, it doesn't really matter.

In such a time poor society, it is sometimes good to have a focus on such days and I'll be drawing up my Twixtmas list soon

There is a brilliant presentation on ‘How to start a mass movement in 3 minutes’ by Derek Sivers, an inspirational entrepreneur speaking at a TED conference that springs to mind Andy's quest. But if everyone is having fun and the world's made that little bit brighter by your actions, then everyone gains something.

So will you join in this year? You can find out more at Twixtmas.com.