A Serious Christmas Address

[Phil 5,129]

Well VHL, another Christmas has come and gone. And a Merry Yohoho to you all. I do hope it was filled with all the wonder, charm, magic, and stuffed bellies that you could have only imagined possible. 

 

Christmas means something different to everyone. We all have our own ideas of what Christmas means. Personally (as I can attest to with my facebook post) Christmas is a time for friends and family. It's a time for giving, and giving alone. One of my pet peeves (to which I do only have a very limited few) is  - and I actually get infuriated by this question, because to me, it is the epitome of everything Christmas isn't - but this pet peeve is "What did you get for Christmas?" or "Was Santa good to you this year?"

 

Why is everything centered around materialistic possessions? I can't believe I'm referencing this, but in Papa Roach's song Between Angels & Insects, they raise this precise thought. It's too bad the World is based on greed.... There's no money, there's no possessions, only obsessions, I don't need that shit... You just can't win.. The things you own, own you. 

 

If I could have one wish this Christmas, it wouldn't be something I could quantify in a materialistic fashion. It wouldn't be a new belt, more video games, 20-year old scotch, or all the protein powder I could ingest without shitting all over the carpet. It wouldn't be a new album from Aimee Mann, or for Labatte to stop producing beers that didn't taste like liquid cat urine. It would be simply that everyone cherish those they love. Not just every now and again meet up and hug, or exchange small talk to keep face. Not to, from time-to-time, spew out the words 'I love you' when they think it's right to, but to specifically make the conscious decision to take the time out of their day to stop and think about why they say that phrase. What makes that person special to them. What do they provide that is important to them?  I must admit I do not always do this. That's why Christmas is so magical to me. It's a yearly reminder of who I am and who's important in my life. In this fast paced world everyone is always thinking ahead of the game, instead of taking the time to actually play it.

 

I've said my piece. What does Christmas mean to you?

[eaglesfan036 4,605]

Was Santa good to you?

[Smarch 3,194]

What did you get for Christmas?

[scoop 3,447]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9kbNN1_Gqk

 

I used to watch this (among others: Rudolph, Frosty, 12 Days of Christmas) on a VHS with family every Christmas. Every year, we'd go to Grandma's, we'd visit aunts and uncles, relatives who we'd only see once or twice a year. I fondly remember my brother and I each getting a Game Boy Pocket and Pokemon Red (me) and Blue (him) and playing through the games together; that was probably the happiest I was receiving a gift. Christmas is always just a happy time.

 

Nowadays, I don't celebrate much. But Christmastime still bestows upon me feelings of happiness. These memories come back to me. Back when I was a kid, getting presents is what Christmas was about. The other traditions that we had for the time, and the relatives we saw, didn't seem to mean as much to me. I'm definitely more appreciative of those things now. Christmas reminds me of a time when I was a happy kid; it reminds me of times when my family was its closest; and that all makes me happy. It makes me hopeful for the future. It makes me want to connect with people. For the past few days, I've been writing letters to people in my life to thank them for what they've meant to me. It's just another outpouring of emotion that the holiday spirit as brought upon me.

 

 

[diamond_ace 3,112]

The family members I want to see live too far (will be going over to visit my sister in January, but can't take the multiple days off in a row during the busy retail season) and the family members I saw, I didn't particularly want to see (I have nothing at all in common with the majority of my cousins and care about as much for them as for a random internet acquaintance - in fact, there are several people on here I'd rather spend time with than my cousins. Cousin events bore me to tears). Family, as a concept by which we bind ourselves into non-chosen but biological groups, is arguably the single LEAST important aspect of christmas to me.

 

The non-factual concept of family (such as the members of the site, or the guy who used to do tattoos for my dad back before he died, one of the people I am closest to in real life) is a much more valuable use of my time, although it does frustrate me that there isn't a second term for this non-factual family. I hate using the term family for this, because the term has a definition and this is not it.

[Phil 5,129]

Beautiful sentiments street and jason! <3

 

Jason, that term you are looking for... by my definition it IS family. We often hear "home is where the heart is"... and Home is where family stay.If not in the biological sense, then truly in the spiritual sense, (or Christmas sense at least) 'family' is whoever you cherish laughter, love, time or memories with. You pin-pointed that very well here. 

[gorlab 4,321]

Did you just reference a Papa Roach song?

 

 

[diamond_ace 3,112]

Beautiful sentiments street and jason! <3

 

Jason, that term you are looking for... by my definition it IS family. We often hear "home is where the heart is"... and Home is where family stay.If not in the biological sense, then truly in the spiritual sense, (or Christmas sense at least) 'family' is whoever you cherish laughter, love, time or memories with. You pin-pointed that very well here. 

True, many people consider that term to be family, but I don't believe the people have the right to change the definition of a word which has already been defined. In that sense, I'd like for there to be another word, so that when someone brings up family out of context, it's not necessary to ask for which kind they're talking about.

 

Theoretically, it could be that people on the whole could take the word "family" to ONLY mean the non-biological but chosen family, and use the word "kin" for biological family as used to be more common, which would clearly delineate the difference.

 

However, the linguistics side of this discussion wasn't really the point, and I believe you've correctly pulled out the point.

 

I might like to add, though, that while I said this was a better use of my time, I didn't necessarily state that I agreed it was the most important. I do think that the consumerist side of the whole season is valuable. It spurs the economy and keeps people in jobs, as well as providing temporary work for people who either don't hold down a regular job or need extra money. There's also a proven psychological boost in the anticipation of buying things and receiving things, which in a modern society, people can use all the psychological boosts possible.

 

However, I think the most important aspect is that it brings a month-long distraction from the increasingly cold winter months. People tend to hole up in their houses in the winter. Christmas and Hannukah/Kwanzaa/etc. give us reasons, whether through visits, shopping, or anything else, to get out and do something, temporarily causing us to forget the cold. There are people out there with seasonal affective disorder, when it finally gets warm in late March/early April these people have to work on pulling out of a depression-like state. How much worse would that be if they had another month's worth of said state to pull out of? Even for people who don't have it, the population on the whole is much less happy and much less motivated to do things during January and February. The effect isn't as strong in December, and that is due to the holiday season and the fact that other things are constantly on the mind, not allowing the cold to really penetrate.