And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
~Dr Seuss
December 25th is coming up fast…Now I don’t know how this one particular day became so all consuming, the be-all and sacred…even to who don’t have a Christian bone in their bodies…or souls…but somehow somewhere along the way this one day got to be so special so hyped up that it fails so many people who have bought into all the crap…yes for many this is the season of dashed expectations.
The fanatics or those who just get into all the festive commercialized mumbo jumbo seem to be under a spell and I just don’t get it. Not only don’t I get it but I am really getting tired of being thought of a kill joy, a Scrooge, or someone who just is plain difficult just because I don’t buy into all the seasonal forced fed gobblygook.
Yes I admit it I don’t like all the commercialism. Being someone who thinks about the scarce resources of the world I don’t put up outside lights and I really don’t even know how this has anything to do with the supposed real meaning of the day…But holy camoly even mention this and man, be prepared to hear the wrath of the festive.
I think the best explanation of the real reason of the day can be found in this cartoon…
Yes as Linus says the real meaning to the season is for it to be a wonderful opportunity to share our love with friends and family…but here again the delivered experiences never seem to meet the expectations. For many, this time of year only magnifies a loss of a loved one, for many, this time of year only reaffirms the separation of their family either by distance in kilometers/miles or distance of poor relationships. And then there is those who are single and searching for that special someone… and this time of year just reaffirms their loneliness and the passing of time…another year alone.
Then we have the visiting with friends…well I have found that this is the worst time of year to visit friends because they are too busy visiting their families!!! I don’t know how many years I baked and bought treats and….we ate the dam baking and treats well into January.
I am sure that for many this year the stress of having to buy gifts and more gifts…and not only just gifts but gifts to people who have everything already and don’t need a dam thing, will depress them. Or the thought that by only staying in the budget the gifts will not be good enough. And then having to mail the dam cheap present and then there is the whole experience of having to pay the postage for the cheap gift and the dam postage costs more than the gift is worth… I ask you…is this enough to turn you right off buying gifts altogether or drive you to just send gift cards…but isn’t that just a lovely thought sitting there on Christmas morning opening up gift card after gift card? Yes what a thought… swapping gift cards because you don’t want to pay the postage or you don’t know what they want/need? Here’s a thought keep your dam money and forget the whole ball of wax!
Funny though, when a friend posted on her facebook wall the question of what is on your Santa list and I told her:
it was like I passed gas! no likes, no comments and not only no comments about my list but no one else posted either… I had shut down the fun of self centred bliss.
The whole commotion wouldn’t be so bad but it starts so early…october! Before flippen Halloween for gods sake! And that is not all the having to listen to the preparations, having to field the what are you doing for Christmas questions, the having to hear the complaining from others in their gift quest, and the having to justify your actions, your point of view for if you do even utter anything remotely sane then you seem to ruin it for everyone…
Bah Humbug!
The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.
~Boris Pasternak
