Sunday, 9 December 2012
Christmas Wishes.
There's something about Christmas that is different to any other holiday.
Maybe it's the atmosphere- the warm nights by the fire watching Noel's Christmas Presents (now All Star Christmas Presents) whilst the ground outside is frozen beneath a blanket of snow. Maybe it's the dark nights; the busy evenings by the German market, holding cups of coffee and singing to carols in the town square; covering the lounge with lights whilst outside the shadows cover the world by late afternoon. Maybe it's the excitement on my kid neighbors' faces when I tell them stories about Santa and his reindeer when I'm baby sitting.
Whatever it is, the magic of it just can't be bested or even matched. I just love how when the sun goes down, the lights come up and the music goes on. From the mantelpiece, a candle flickers and there's a certain spark which no words can describe- not a physical spark, but an emotion which fills me from my finger tips to my toes. I feel like there's something bigger coming.
And there is.
It starts getting to a point in mid November (yes, early bird, 11th month) where I begin to think about how I'll decorate my room, make my own little Christmas world. I begin to plan what presents I'll get for which family and friends. Which neighbors will get wine and gingerbread and which ones will get a card and a cheeseboard; which teachers at school deserve a card and which ones deserve a snow angel by their car. I begin to get an inkling of magic- the adverts, the shops putting fake snow in their windows, you know- the commercial stuff.
Then, around early December, going out to the shops and doing the Christmas shopping. Driving out to the Christmas tree plantation to pick out the best of the bunch and chop it down, before stopping off in the cafe for a cup of hot chocolate and fantasies of buying my own little cottage up there and living around the ever-present symbolic Christmas symbols of trees. The late evening shopping hours, Christmas light switch on's and going to see live music in the square, with the Fairytale of New York being played in every other shop. The attitude of others around me- strangers- begins to change. I hear something different when a person says 'thanks' to a bus driver, when a mother hands her child his child a toy and talks to him about it being very nippy, even though he probably hasn't even sat up by himself yet. There's something different within society which creates the welcome atmosphere of miracles, where people stop and toss a couple of coins into a buskers' guitar case, or give a tea to someone sitting on a park bench by themselves, or even put thier spare change in that charity box Santa's holding by the door of Sainsbury's for a littleknown charity- where people begin to accept others and show a love and give generously to those they don't know.
By mid December, the world's gone into a flurry of shopping and advertising and running errands for elderly neighbors and trying to find the best of the best for Christmas dinner even though it 'all should have been sorted weeks ago' and suddenly the world forgets what was holding ties to everybody in town just a few days previously- giving. Suddenly it's all about throwing the best Christmas work do, and getting the best offers for the presents for those aunties and uncles no one really knows all that well but feels obligated to buy for- it's all so materialistic.
But for some, the true meaning becomes more apparent then than ever. The people who:
- Remember themselves in the hustle and bustle, and still stop to drop a couple of things in at the food bank,
- Those who volunteer at with the local ambulance service on Christmas eve,
- Those people who are all about giving up until the very last possible moment.
These people highlight the true meaning of Christmas for others who maybe don't know or have forgotten.
When there are people who don't have much to look forward to at this time of year, there are others willing to go out of their way to help put a smile on those former peoples' faces. Where a single mother can't bare to hear her child cry one more time, thinks she'll go insane if he doesn't sleep through the night, there is another person on the end of the phone, waiting for her call so they can just let her know that there is a bigger picture and that things will get better. For those feeling like they're alone at Christmas, those who are all by themselves or those surrounded by people who call them family but have no idea of the desolate place they're in in their hearts, there is someone out there, sending up a prayer, a silent thought or a shout to a higher power they may not even believe in, just wanting the mentioned to feel their hearts.
They make it worthwhile.
Personally, my favorite day of the season is Christmas eve. When everybody sits in their homes and thinks. Maybe they run out to grab another orange for the mulled wine, or perhaps they don't even care that their advent candle hasn't been lit since the 16th. I like to go to a coffee shop with a close friend and reflect on the year, help my grandma finish her decorating, then retire to my house where I watch the snowman and listen to a hundred versions of 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'. Sometimes later in the evening I sit on my windowsill and sing carols softly as I watch the Children's Collection Sleigh pull around a dark and deserted Beeston. I can just feel something building- something so powerful that I wouldn't even try to confront, so I just quietly sit and embrace the Christmas spirit. I'm filled with joy and glee and emotions which ordinarily would have no rightful place in my heart at that time of night, but are allowed that one night because something greater is going on.
I'd like to bring my children up to believe that there is a Santa Claus- as I was- but not one who brings them presents. No, my children will know that their mummy and daddy can afford to buy their presents (God willing) and shower them in adoration in this season. I would like my children to believe in a Santa Claus who helps those in need. The guy wearing a red coat by the shops, ringing a bell and holding a bucket with various charity names plastered on the side- that's Santa. The man who gives up his family time on Christmas day to go around the children's ward at QMC and hand out presents donated to the hospital, to the children who can't be at home with their families for Christmas- that's Santa. I would have my children believe in an alternative Santa, if you like. A Santa, not about 'me me me', but about 'giving giving giving'. I'd maybe not bring them up so closely to the belief that someone would give 'greatly privileged' children gifts, but those who wouldn't get many or any otherwise. I'd bring them up with the story of a baby who could have had it all, but didn't. A baby whose Father had such passion that He gave Him the worst so that the less fortunate may have the best. If it's possible I'd bring my children up knowing an upside-down kingdom.
They would know the reason for the season.
Love.
Maybe it's the atmosphere- the warm nights by the fire watching Noel's Christmas Presents (now All Star Christmas Presents) whilst the ground outside is frozen beneath a blanket of snow. Maybe it's the dark nights; the busy evenings by the German market, holding cups of coffee and singing to carols in the town square; covering the lounge with lights whilst outside the shadows cover the world by late afternoon. Maybe it's the excitement on my kid neighbors' faces when I tell them stories about Santa and his reindeer when I'm baby sitting.
Whatever it is, the magic of it just can't be bested or even matched. I just love how when the sun goes down, the lights come up and the music goes on. From the mantelpiece, a candle flickers and there's a certain spark which no words can describe- not a physical spark, but an emotion which fills me from my finger tips to my toes. I feel like there's something bigger coming.
And there is.
It starts getting to a point in mid November (yes, early bird, 11th month) where I begin to think about how I'll decorate my room, make my own little Christmas world. I begin to plan what presents I'll get for which family and friends. Which neighbors will get wine and gingerbread and which ones will get a card and a cheeseboard; which teachers at school deserve a card and which ones deserve a snow angel by their car. I begin to get an inkling of magic- the adverts, the shops putting fake snow in their windows, you know- the commercial stuff.
Then, around early December, going out to the shops and doing the Christmas shopping. Driving out to the Christmas tree plantation to pick out the best of the bunch and chop it down, before stopping off in the cafe for a cup of hot chocolate and fantasies of buying my own little cottage up there and living around the ever-present symbolic Christmas symbols of trees. The late evening shopping hours, Christmas light switch on's and going to see live music in the square, with the Fairytale of New York being played in every other shop. The attitude of others around me- strangers- begins to change. I hear something different when a person says 'thanks' to a bus driver, when a mother hands her child his child a toy and talks to him about it being very nippy, even though he probably hasn't even sat up by himself yet. There's something different within society which creates the welcome atmosphere of miracles, where people stop and toss a couple of coins into a buskers' guitar case, or give a tea to someone sitting on a park bench by themselves, or even put thier spare change in that charity box Santa's holding by the door of Sainsbury's for a littleknown charity- where people begin to accept others and show a love and give generously to those they don't know.
By mid December, the world's gone into a flurry of shopping and advertising and running errands for elderly neighbors and trying to find the best of the best for Christmas dinner even though it 'all should have been sorted weeks ago' and suddenly the world forgets what was holding ties to everybody in town just a few days previously- giving. Suddenly it's all about throwing the best Christmas work do, and getting the best offers for the presents for those aunties and uncles no one really knows all that well but feels obligated to buy for- it's all so materialistic.
But for some, the true meaning becomes more apparent then than ever. The people who:
- Remember themselves in the hustle and bustle, and still stop to drop a couple of things in at the food bank,
- Those who volunteer at with the local ambulance service on Christmas eve,
- Those people who are all about giving up until the very last possible moment.
These people highlight the true meaning of Christmas for others who maybe don't know or have forgotten.
When there are people who don't have much to look forward to at this time of year, there are others willing to go out of their way to help put a smile on those former peoples' faces. Where a single mother can't bare to hear her child cry one more time, thinks she'll go insane if he doesn't sleep through the night, there is another person on the end of the phone, waiting for her call so they can just let her know that there is a bigger picture and that things will get better. For those feeling like they're alone at Christmas, those who are all by themselves or those surrounded by people who call them family but have no idea of the desolate place they're in in their hearts, there is someone out there, sending up a prayer, a silent thought or a shout to a higher power they may not even believe in, just wanting the mentioned to feel their hearts.
They make it worthwhile.
Personally, my favorite day of the season is Christmas eve. When everybody sits in their homes and thinks. Maybe they run out to grab another orange for the mulled wine, or perhaps they don't even care that their advent candle hasn't been lit since the 16th. I like to go to a coffee shop with a close friend and reflect on the year, help my grandma finish her decorating, then retire to my house where I watch the snowman and listen to a hundred versions of 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'. Sometimes later in the evening I sit on my windowsill and sing carols softly as I watch the Children's Collection Sleigh pull around a dark and deserted Beeston. I can just feel something building- something so powerful that I wouldn't even try to confront, so I just quietly sit and embrace the Christmas spirit. I'm filled with joy and glee and emotions which ordinarily would have no rightful place in my heart at that time of night, but are allowed that one night because something greater is going on.
I'd like to bring my children up to believe that there is a Santa Claus- as I was- but not one who brings them presents. No, my children will know that their mummy and daddy can afford to buy their presents (God willing) and shower them in adoration in this season. I would like my children to believe in a Santa Claus who helps those in need. The guy wearing a red coat by the shops, ringing a bell and holding a bucket with various charity names plastered on the side- that's Santa. The man who gives up his family time on Christmas day to go around the children's ward at QMC and hand out presents donated to the hospital, to the children who can't be at home with their families for Christmas- that's Santa. I would have my children believe in an alternative Santa, if you like. A Santa, not about 'me me me', but about 'giving giving giving'. I'd maybe not bring them up so closely to the belief that someone would give 'greatly privileged' children gifts, but those who wouldn't get many or any otherwise. I'd bring them up with the story of a baby who could have had it all, but didn't. A baby whose Father had such passion that He gave Him the worst so that the less fortunate may have the best. If it's possible I'd bring my children up knowing an upside-down kingdom.
They would know the reason for the season.
Love.
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