A Hate/Love Relationship

I admit it - I hate Christmas. Hold on, before you get your rope (or whatever else) in a knot, let me contextualize and define that statement. I don't hate the festival of Christmas, I hate the materialism that comes along with it. For years, around 3 or 4, I've railed against the horrors of materialism that befall our society every time Christmas rolls around. Shops start advertising the event months in advance, small children start writing letters to Santa (or their parents if they've gotten over the Santa myth) outlining (often in excrusciating detail) their profligate desires, and people whip out their credit cards to scoop up as many things as possible. To me, it seems, or seemed, a complete waste of money and time. To me, there were better things to celebrate, better things to throw money at (well not 'throw; 'donate' would be a better word), and better ways to practice writing.

I don't know why, or even when , I developed this hatred of Christmas. Perhaps it was a result of my family's Christmas celebrations, that usually ended with my little sister in tears because my parents bought her something she didn't want. She'd come down the stairs in the morning, excited to open her presents. My parents would be grinning, expecting my sister to love her gifts, and then she'd open them and complain. And then sulk for the rest of the day. I'm not sure if I sulked as much as she did, although I remember certainly doing so when I got a minidisc player and not the cd player that I'd wanted. Looking back, that was a stupid reason to sulk - minidiscs were state-of-the-art then, and CD players were already becoming obsolete. But, being a kid, I really didn't know the difference. All I knew was that all my friends had CD players, and I had something else. After 3 years of failed Christmases (and yes, we only had a tree with presents for three years), my mom decided that she'd had enough, and announced that she (and my dad) would no longer buy presents. My sister was devastated. I was surprisingly happy - maybe because I was older and knew that my mom's decision was the right one.

This year, I don't know what it is, but I've felt the Christmas spirit that everyone's always talked about and that I'd never felt. I don't know if it's because of the recession, or because of the freakishly cold weather we've been having this year, or because I'm a bit more sentimental this year given that it's probably my last winter in this city, but it's been different. It all started with me asking my mom to get a real tree this year (we'd had a fake one for a couple of years). This is only our 2nd or 3rd real tree ever, but it's by far the best one we've had. For one, it smells beautiful. The shape is also amazing. As well, it doesn't have any of that cheap tinsel that I hate, and is decorated pretty nicely (kudos to my sister for that).

I've also noticed people being much nicer this year - randomly. I've seen more people donate their time and money to the less fortunate this season than I have ever before; and I've seen people smile more, talk to each other more, and be in better moods generally. Maybe I'm imagining things, looking at my city through rose-tinted glasses, but, in all honesty, I don't think so. I don't know how to prove this to you, so you'll just have to believe me.

Maybe it's the recession's effect, but I haven't seen people going wild on spending this year either, which to me, is a good thing (not the recession of course, the curbed spending).

Whatever the case, Christmas this year promises to be special, and I've pretty much decided to make every single Christmas after this one as special as possible. Heck, it only comes once a year, and is a time when everyone can get together and celebrate. It may be religious in origin (Christian, Roman whatever), but in my mind, it's the coolest secular event of the year (more so than Hallowe'en as well!).

Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Holidays!