Christmas Is Here, Where's My Bloody Christmas Cheer?

It’s Christmas time again and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season seethes around me, but I hardly notice, as thought I am the eye of the storm, perfectly calm amidst absolute chaos. I am detached and distant, unimpressed by the hype and impervious to the cheer.

Why? At what point did Christmas lose its charm?

I used to revel in the excitement of the holidays, the Christmas decorations and lights, the buzz of excitement in the air and the manic hustle of millions of families preparing for the biggest day of the year. Then it happened… I “matured”. Fuck.

I have always made a conscious effort to embrace my inner child, to remind myself that even as an adult it is extremely important to remember how to play and have fun, how to live in the moment and see the beauty in the smallest and humblest of things. Yet here I am surrounded by joy and excitement, feeling like an old, ungrateful bastard. “Humph”.

So, what it is that makes Christmas so special? Spending quality time with the family? Sure, mine is somewhat far spread though, Melbourne, Canberra, even Europe this year! Although, in the age of technology, bringing the family together must be recognised as the true miracle of Christmas.
Gifting? Maybe, I have to admit, I find the process of buying gifts for people to be largely a giant pain in the arse, not to mention a hugely irresponsible tradition that fuels the epidemic of consumerism to a disastrous degree - I can barely hear myself think over you all screaming “GRINCH” at me from your computer screens, but I forgive you - I feel that a much more responsible and valuable form of gifting would be to give experiences. The joy of an incredible experience is far more valuable and will undoubtedly bring more happiness than any physical item ever could. To those of you who gift experiences, I salute you.
The feast? Yaaassss, who doesn’t love an excuse to eat and drink themselves silly in the presence of good company? This one has my vote, although I would encourage presence of thought when shopping for your Christmas feast, there are enough families in the world who will be unable to eat on Christmas day, waste is surely rude and inconsiderate to those less fortunate.
Santa, Rudolf, cookies and milk? What fun that was… Once upon a time - If you haven’t read about ol Saint Nicholas its worth a quick geez, considering the worldwide phenomenon that he has become - Once the cats out of the bag with this one its a little hard to expect to feel the same excitement that you did when you believed his fat belly would fit down your chimney… Perhaps the magic of Santa would return if I ever father offspring.

I hope that I have not been too much of a damp rag this Christmas eve… I surely don’t mean to negatively impact anybodies Christmas experience, perhaps this is my cry for help? Show me the magic!? Somebody? Anybody?

I think I will make more of an effort next year… perhaps I will even put up a tree? What do you think? Maybe I need a new tradition, something a little more aligned with my beliefs. Why do we use Saint Nicholas, born 15th March, as the icon of Christmas on the alleged birthday of Jesus Christ? Saint Nicholas passed on Dec 6th, a date which was originally celebrated with a feast, perhaps this should be the real Christmas? It seems to me that Christmas is confused and has been shaped and moulded into an excuse to spend a lot of money and drink a lot of wine… One way or another, it is what it is and maybe I just need to embrace it.
But I like poking things… You never know what you’ll discover.

Merry Bloody Christmas and Happy F*cking New Year!

=D

Much love fam