Now that Christmas is almost done and now we’ll have to all wait a whole another year for Christmas to come around again. It has gotten me think how in a ways perhaps we received a opportunity this year to get back to a simple holiday. Now of course I know many of us were not able to see loved ones and my thoughts especially go out to those who will forever have that empty chair around the table.
But I have a question for you to ask yourself... At its core why do we celebrate Christmas? Now there is not just one obvious answer to this question, in fact there isn’t really any wrong answer either...
Some may answers this question as “I celebrate for religious reasons” and other may say “I am only in it for the gifts!” Now I encourage you to think for yourself to ask yourself why do you feel the need to celebrate? Maybe your answer might be because of tradition? Yet why is it a tradition... prepare as a observation you might feel the season has become massively commercialized over the last century!
If we look back in history, humanity has always had some form of cultures celebrate during this time of year dating back to ancient times. The Romans celebrated a festival from December 17-23 called Saturnalia which honored the god Saturn. During this time people exchanged gifts, attended parties, and of course put up some decorates... sound familiar?
So I ask again why do YOU celebrate?
When I think about it I admit I feel like I the main reason why I celebrate Christmas is because of tradition. When I was young I couldn’t of course wait to get the time off of school and get all those presents. Yet now that I am older I see this time of year as a chance to share joy.
I adore watching young kids interacting with Santa and see the wonder of the world though their eyes. My favorite part of holidays now is not is not the gift exchange, in fact this year my family didn’t have one. What I instead love is being able it just to sit around and connect with others.
Before you get any ideas about me partying this year, relax I didn’t. I had a quite day within my social bubble, which is just my mom and my sister who I am presently living with. Everyone else I spoke to today with was done remotely thanks to modern technical world we live in. This though was the first year since Christmas of 2008 that I have actually been able to be home for the holiday season since normally I am working all the way though it, and believe me when I say it felt extremely weird.
Every year we always get families who venture out for the magic of a flicker on the silver screen, and just like clockwork at the end of the night we always end up getting a “thank you” out of everyone who in a way invited into my own family’s celebration. We like our guests to feel more like they are being welcome into our living room then just a going to a movie. By the end of the night so many children are factly asleep and end up getting carried out. Over the years we have watched these kids grow up, and I imagine when we see some of these kids again they are going to be at least a foot taller... The family who always come down say that going to the movies on Christmas Day has become their family tradition.
I apologize for my rambling, but I suppose if I had to sum up what the meaning of Christmas is to me I would have to say it is about making others happy! Bringing joy to others and seeing the smiles of children... Now will working over the holidays alway be my life? Who knows! I don’t have any way of looking onward to what Christmas will look like in the future, and I have learned Christmas is always changing. It is what we do with the changes, do we embrace them?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays I hope that more of us strive to be more like Tiny Tim and less like Ebenezer Scrooge!
Yours truly,
Nicklas
P.S. I hope you enjoyed my little node to “A Christmas Carol” over the couple post... Remember To Honor Christmas Pasts, Poetically Present, Future Christmas Spirt...
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