I’ve been listening to Christmas carols. I’ve already admitted it, but I’m going to admit it again. I was wanting to do some things that would help me get in the holiday spirit and even though I’ve always been against Christmas carols and decorations before Thanksgiving, I gave in this year. I’m ok with it. I have three Pandora channels that I listen to: Holiday Hits, Holiday Instrumentals, and Vince Guaraldi Trio (Holiday).
Right now I’m listening to Holiday Hits. I had a podcast on while I was painting but when I started cleaning up I put on the Holiday Hits. I have to admit, it gives me a little pep in my step. Stevie Wonder’s got my current fave song: What Christmas Means To Me. It makes me happy every time it comes on. I’m also warming up to Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me.
I often wonder what Christmas was like before Charles Dickens made it a popular holiday. Before A Christmas Carol, only a few Christians celebrated Christmas. It wasn’t that big of a deal. But after the story came out and was so popular people started celebrating it. And now it’s big business. Now it’s less about Jesus and more about winter break and buying shit. Now it’s not even about that. It’s about decorating your house with bright lights you can see from space and eating meat and cakes.
I used to live up the street from Central Market, San Antonio’s gourmet grocery story. The day before Thanksgiving it’s a circus. I wouldn’t even drive down that street during the holidays when I lived there. It was crazy and annoying. I just can’t accept how many people are on the planet. I wish I could live two hundred years ago without losing modern conveniences.
Anyways, I’m talking about the holiday spirit. What is it? Trying to feel high for two months? I guess it goes back to childhood. Anticipating dreams coming true in the form of presents. Believing in Santa Clause. Holiday movies like A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. Cookies. Am I just trying to recreate something that’s supposed to die off at some point? Are we all doing that? Is that why you walk into Michael’s to get art supplies in September and there are already Christmas Trees?
I believe there is something about this time of year, the shorter, darker days, the cold temperatures, that triggers some kind of mood. I heard someone the other day say she doesn’t go out of the house after dark, so even if her yoga class starts at 6pm, now that it’s dark at 6, she blows it off. I could relate. I’d rather just sit on the couch under a blanket and read a book than leave the house for yoga.
Is it hibernation? Is it some kind of retreat from the cold? From the darkness? I heard once that during the long winters they have in the north, people needed a break, and holiday celebrations were it. Was Jesus really born on December 25th? Who knows, and frankly, it does’t really make much difference to me. I think we respond to the climate, the light, and the physical feeling of winter. I think we retreat, retract, and react, and staying home under a blanket is the most soothing thing we can do.
So, in oder to get into the holiday spirit I’m listening to Christmas carols - holiday hits when I want and emotional lift, holiday instrumentals when I’m sitting under a blanket, reading, and Vince Garaldi Trio when I want something fun but mellow. I’m taking it easy, resting more, allowing myself to stay home when I want to. I’m contributing the holiday get-togethers (I bought a vegan meal for my mom and a maple pecan pie for the family). I’m trying to focus in giving rather than spending. I’m lighting candles when it’s dark.