It depends on your viewpoint No, not your opinion, it depends on where you are physically standing when you look at the world. The point from which you are viewing. That kind of viewpoint. Will it be a long dark night, and fairly chilly or down right frigid, or will it be a short night that is either balmy or sweltering.  Mine is in the northern hemisphere, though more toward the equator.Therefore the nights are not as long in the winters, and it isn't so cold.  People put lights in palm trees here to call back into being and welcome  the longer days.  But our long darks are moderate.  Up toward our North Pole, up where reindeer really live, they have almost total darkness, and staying connected to the sun was and is still, a vital act. Light is both actual and metaphorical. We need it to live in all our aspects, from vitamin D that our own bodies create from sunlight to what is converted to other forms of nutrition by plants and animals for us. We need warmth for our bodies, and we need light for the joy pt brings.  On the spiritual side, we need the light of truth, the warmth that love in all its forms brings to us, as beings. We need to be able to see.
We celebrate in many ways, and many of these times of celebration echo the order of nature.  We can use it as a time to recognize and nurture the importance of the ecological health of our earth.  We all need it.  At some level, we all know we do.  "Help take care of the planet.", L. Ron Hubbard.  Joy and Peace.  www.thewaytohappiness.com  @waytohappinesstampa