A beautiful Christmas Wallpaper, available from crazy-frankenstein.com

It’s almost like a Holiday Tradition for me to sit down and write something sappy, and now is the time.

There are many other cultural holidays that happen this time of year, or other times of year completely… I enjoy celebrating them too, especially as a way to try and diversify my knowledge of the world. I enjoyed the Setsubun festival this year with the Japanese Club, and if I had a Jewish friend, I would have wished them a very Happy Hanukkah.

Thing is, there is a lot of kerfuffle about Christmas being a prejudiced thing, or something. Not “politically correct”. I have a hard time understanding this. I was once married to a girl with fairly little religious proclivities, and even she got this soft and dreamy look in her eye when she related tales of Christmases Past.

On the other hand, sometimes my Christian friends and family can come on pretty strong with the, “Put the CHRIST back in Christmas!”

Thing is… I agree with both. I love having the Christ in Christmas, but also… I just love having those moments with friends and family. I love giving gifts (and yeah, I love getting them too). I love the singing, the chocolate, and most of the music. I love that while I’m in Idaho, it is almost always a White Christmas; and that when I was in California, there was no snow – but everything was blanketed in another layer of beauty, like I was seeing it all anew.

I don’t ever want to lose my child-like wonder at Christmas-time. I have lost it, especially when dealing with depression, but I don’t want that to become a habit. There’s something renewing about this time of year that helps you re-focus on who you really want to be, and what life is really about. And in perfect time for the start of the next year.

It’s been said that Christmas is the day that you get to be the version of yourself that you want to or should be all year. Does that mean that there’s something wrong with us for being so flawed the rest of the year long? I don’t think so. It’s easy to get caught up on the commutes, the errands, the homework submissions and arguments of life. For those who work all week, Christmas is generally a completely legitimate excuse for time with the family, to focus on them. I think as humans, we need that excuse.

And whether you have a nativity set in your home or not, I think Christ would be pretty darn happy with that.

That’s my feeling about the Santa thing. Santa, in my opinion, is kid-version Christ. He gives of his time and resources freely, and loves everyone equally (although he does not reward equally). We grow up, we realize that those presents were actually wrapped by an authority figure, and… is this a tragedy? To discover that our parents or guardians are the ones that actually give of their time and resources, and love us as much as possible? It needn’t be.

This time of year can be pretty darned busy. Do yourself a favor and put on a smile. Sometimes emotion follows action, too – force that smile until you mean it, and then give it to someone; sincerely, and freely. I think this is the best gift you can give the busy clerk at the store, the bedraggled man on the bus, or a tired spouse.

And I’ll leave you with a quote from Neil Gaiman’s “Graveyard Book”:

“Kiss a lover,
Dance a measure,
Find your name
And buried treasure.

Face your life,
It’s pain,
It’s pleasure,
Leave no path untaken.”

It’s a song that’s stuck in my head since I’ve read the book, and feels somehow appropriate here. So yes, this has become a very Sappy message, but sometimes that Sap may be just what we need, don’t you agree?

So Merry Christmas, friends all; those online and off.