I can't get into Christmas.
I guess I'm becoming more like my dad -- for him, it's just one more day in the year, religious significance aside. He doesn't get into all the hoopla and hubbub. His philosophy is "if I want something, I'll just go get it, or save up until such time I can go get it." Mine is the same.
But now along comes all the marketeers pumping up the expectations for the holidays. All the sparkly, expensive gifts. All the big fancy gatherings. All that warm, gooey, gushy feeling -- my God, it practically oozes through the screens.
Well, sadly for many people, the Norman Rockwell Christmas is a farce. (Apologies to Mr. Rockwell, he was just doing his job). People change, times change, and somehow we get all nostalgic at the holidays and try to live up to all those expectations we had as kids. Think Clark Griswold and the conversation he has with his dad. Over the years, I've developed a great definition for nostalgia: feeling sentimental for something that actually never existed.
As for me, I just want to celebrate the religious significance, exchange small gifts with loved ones, and not succumbing to the marketing pressure of what the perfect Christmas should be. I don't have to go all hog-wild and decorate like mad, or listen to holiday music 24/7 or spend $$$ that I don't need to.
Realism for Christmas. What a concept.
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1 comment:
One word: Wow.
Christmas for me is about one thing: my son.
What about my wife, you ask? You're talking about people who, in the past, have had mistletoe hanging over a doorway year friggin' round!! :-D
Christmas is just another weekend where I have to drive westward; one more day I can wake up and smile when I see Seraphim's face. MY day of celebration, joy and feast with Seraphim is January 6 -- our anniversary. That day belongs to US, not to a bunch of corporate zombies.
I live for one thing December 25th: seeing the look on my son's face when he'll get some fun surprises thanks to Dad and "Bonus Mom." And seeing just what his grandparents (my parents, not .... HER'S) have in store for him. This is gonna be good.
I bet Norman Rockwell was a tortured soul, who was compensating for his own voids through his oils and canvas.
As for nostalgia, I look at it as feeling sentimental for things we didn't see or appreciate when it was right in front of us.
James Lileks said it best: "Nostalgia comes down to a gauzy regret that you're not 12 anymore."
-TG
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