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A Funny Thing About Christmas
Dec
I don’t mean funny as in ha-ha. But funny in how so many people appreciate Christmas from so many different perspectives.
I compare this to plays by Shakespeare, written 500 years ago. I saw King Lear in Stratford, Ontario as a youngster. Instead of spears, the soldiers were carrying machine guns! It still works. Different directors brought different perspectives.
I’m not an intensely religious person, yet I have a strong faith.
How do I Blog about a unique perspective to this year’s Christmas?
Well, I’ll give you my unique perspective. I’ll open with my usual warning on sensitive and emotional topics.
‘Take what is useful, and please leave the rest.’
I celebrate Christmas as a time to relax and reflect spiritually. I recharge my batteries. I slow my life down. I refuse to buy anything Christmassy before December 1. I rarely buy Christmas presents throughout the year. I try to focus on what would bring joy to my heart. The ‘dinner’ didn’t have to be perfect. And so on.
Throughout my adult life including my life as a parent, I lowered expectations about gifts, size when kids were younger and cost as they got older. I tried to refrain throughout the year from using gifts as bribes or rewards for expected behaviour. Well, most of the time!
Christmas was a time to celebrate being in love and being loved. It was incredibly enriching when those people were physically present. In my early twenties, when I was out on my own, I had some lonely Christmases. I realized that it would be worse for me if I wasn’t comforted by the fact I loved and was loved.
When I sit down with others to have my Christmas Dinner, I reflect on those less fortunate who have no meal available, let alone a special Christmas Dinner. I give money to organizations that help those folks out on my behalf.
KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid. I take time out of the rush and hurly-burly of the season to renew my appreciation of the simple things in my life that bring me joy; people I have longstanding relationships of mutual appreciation, the sky at night-if possible away from the flood of city lights, the ever-changing seasons that support me to accept constant change, a mind-bending book I just finished reading, and the good fortune of being in a situation to enjoy all my life offers me.
Please, give this a bit of a think. Be the director of your own life’s play and strip it down to the essentials. What is your perspective of Christmas? What meaning do you give it?
Merry Christmas!
I’m curious about your thoughts. Please leave your comment.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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