holiday spirit

for me, this isn’t about the Catholic church, the Bible, or to be honest, Jesus. I celebrate Saint Nicholas, a Christian Bishop who provided the poor and sick. there are many legends about this man and how he went about helping others; i don’t know which are true but i do believe we should continue what he started. 

during December we buy gifts for family and close friends, wrap them in beautiful paper and place each under a decorated tree. it really is magical. but, holiday spirit is also about what we can do for others, strangers so to speak. something as simple as donating money, gifting toys and books to local hospitals and clothing to shelters. volunteering our time to charities and soup kitchens.. Christmas eve we bring baked goods to a Church about 30 minutes from my home as they have a dinner on Christmas for homeless and the less fortunate every year. 

we don’t need a holiday to buy something for someone else or to show our compassion, but it’s nice to have. life is easy to get caught up in, easy to forget that actions mean so much more than words; easy to forget that time with family is important, sometimes more so than other things. Christmas reminds us to be a little kinder and more patient. Christmas, (or the entire month of December for that matter), for me is when i try to be a better version of myself, strive to do more good for others and not just do for myself. 

the tree, well that’s just a fun tradition. my family always made the tree a big deal. myself, brother, and all of our cousins get at least one ornament that reflects something from the past year of our lives. we each hang it on the tree and on January sixth take ours down to keep for the following year. it’s like a an album of memories but in ornaments. at 29, i have probably 50 to 60 ornaments just from Christmas gifts over the years. i pull them out of storage and every year am reminded of a time in my life, whether it’s college and moving away from home for the first time or a fairy from when i was 17 and wanted to get my first tattoo (i didn’t, my mom would have killed me)… it takes me back. 

if you celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, that is wonderful. everyone believes in something, even if they claim not to. it’s hard to not think there’s something happening that we can’t see or understand. religion is like our acceptance of that, the one thing we just have to believe in with little or no proof that we’re right. 

for those of you who are not church goers, read the bible, maybe didn’t even have a first communion… celebrating Christmas is still okay. it’s about happiness, spreading positivity, it’s family and friends, and a feeling of warmth all wrapped into one. and yes, shopping can get insane and people can get out of control. i like to think it has more to do with how much we care to get the perfect gift. but even with that madness of black fridays and cyber mondays and end of the year sales, it boils down to cinnamon buns in the morning, unraveling a carefully wrapped presents to reveal something you’ve been wanting, seeing the person who gave you the gift get just as excited as you. it’s about a meal as a family, catching up, it’s about being a little more patient, a better version of yourself, caring more about our society as a whole and not just those that can do for you. there’s a little magic in the air during December and it kindly reminds us that there is so much good in this world, and it always outweighs the bad. 

will i go to church? no. will i celebrate Easter? no. or pretend to be celebrating the birth of Jesus on Tuesday? well no…. although some of my family will be. i’ll be celebrating all i mentioned above. i’ll be dropping off the cookies and pies tomorrow night to the Grace church, and crawling into bed with my puppy between me feet and my boyfriends chest under my head; with ingredients for gluten free vegan cinnamon buns laid out on the counter for breakfast. i’ll be eyeing the craftsmanship of wrapped gifts under my tree before they are shredded apart in excitement tomorrow. but more than that, i’ll take some time to reflect, maybe even journal a bit about how calm, happy, fulfilled i feel in that exact moment.

Merry Christmas.