It is here. 'tis the time for joy and forgiveness. Do you have some to spare?
I like Christmas. I like the lights and the general upbeat mood. I would even confess to liking the songs that play on a loop in every mall across America. I look forward to driving to the mall, driving around for thirty minutes looking for parking, wading through the snow to get inside where it is too hot, dodging little children and grannies in tow, looking for a gift for someone to remind them that at least once a year you think of them.
I like the whole ritual of putting up the tree, decorating it, running the string of lights through it and admiring the handiwork for a month. I like getting cards and particularly those long and tiring newsletters from old friends with obligatory pictures of kids and dogs. It surely is the only holiday I celebrate even thought I am not a Christian, never have been one.
Even though technically Christmas is a Christian holiday, I think of it as a secular, hallmark holiday. A time to celebrate the end of the year with some deliberate reflection and a time to look forward to the next year and take stock. It is not always about gifts or the tree. It is really about the way you actually FEEL. May be because it snows, may be because it is at the end of the year, may be because hallmark knows how to market it, I just think it is EVERYONE's holiday.
This Christmas, I don't know where I will be. So much is up in the air. may be that is why I feel so nostalgic.
What are YOU doing for Christmas?
