Well folks, here it is...my anti-Christmas post. I know, I know. I'm that girl. Please don't hate me!!
Of course as a kid I absolutely loved Christmas time. It meant no school, staying up late, getting to eat tons of delicious treats, and receiving tons of gifts. Over the years though, as I have gotten older, I have slowly come to realize that Christmas is a season that, well.....I greatly don't enjoy (I don't quite have strong enough feelings for the word hate here, yet, heh).
Don't get me wrong, I love gathering around the dinner table with family, and spending late nights reminiscing, etc., but it drives me mental that we only do it because it's Christmas time. Sure in my family we get together on birthdays and Easter and Thanksgiving, etc., but why do we seem to wait until Christmas to show appreciation for each other. And, why do we need gifts to show appreciation for each other. People spend the entire month of December and some times even November, stressing out about finding the perfect gift, and running each other over in malls scrambling to find the best this or that. Yes, the consumerism part of the holiday I hate, I think that's obvious.
But it's also the negative, phony side of people that comes out at this time of year that gets to me as well. If we're not friends in the first place, don't all of a sudden start saying happy holidays to me, you don't really mean it. Sure, maybe you think you are just being polite, but honestly, I find it more offensive.
Christmas happens to bring out some of the worst in people as well. I can distinctly recall situations where people who I know, and normally love and respect, were given gifts and disgustedly replied with: "oh, this is what you got me" and, "well, how come I didn't get something from that person". Maybe I'm harsh in saying this but, I think celebrating Christmas has just taught people the wrong expectations. Why should we assume we're going to be given gift after gift? Have we really done anything to deserve it? Sure we're decent people, but did we spend all year going above and beyond for others, in order to deserve to be showered with gifts in the last month. I think not. And even if we did go above and beyond for others, are we only doing it so that we will be rewarded? If so, then that right there just makes us less deserving.
I think naturally people are selfish, which is fine, we have to look out for ourselves to survive in this world, but I think Christmas has brought on this un-deserved expectation.
I'm not religious by any means either, so saying that I participate in order to celebrate Jesus' birthday doesn't cut it for me either. If I ever decide to have kids of my own and raise a family, I think I might kybosh the whole Christmas, holiday thing completely, and just make "grateful days" (the name is a work in progress, hah). Why does it take celebrating other people's events (mostly religious), in order to spend quality time and show appreciation for the people we love. Why can't we all just pick our own days on our own schedules to celebrate and be grateful for each other. Maybe some people do this already, and that's amazing, but then why do we need this extra day, correction, month, this extreme time of year where it seems like the only focus is high financial, emotional, and physical stress. .
Well hopefully I didn't scare to many of you away with this post, and if you have stuck around until the end, I thought I'd share with you two of my favourite "Christmas" songs. They are from the CD "A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas". Be warned, they are not your upbeat, spreading love and cheer, Christmas carols, but they are two songs that I listen to 'round the clock at this time of year. I guess they kind of make me feel less alone, like I'm not the only one with a sort of dreary Christmas outlook. Here they are:
Forget December by Something Corporate
Anyway, sorry for all the negativity! Don't worry, my spirits will pick up soon.
-Linds
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