Okay so it's November and according to the retail world it's officially Christmas Season. When I worked in retail (shudder) I HATED this mentality and I think MOST people feel that November 1st is still a little too early to start putting up Christmas lights and listening to Sinatra. But by the end of the month there are plenty of people hosting early Christmas parties and getting on with their shopping. That's because December is so ridiculously busy for most people and contrary to the original tradition, the western world thinks Christmas ENDS on the 26th of December. Given how much preparation the holiday takes these days, with decorations, shopping, visitors, parties, and events, and considering the fact that most of us are not just housewives anymore, it's not really surprising that people start the holiday fun earlier and earlier. Why put that much work into the holiday if you're not actually going to have time to enjoy it?
When I was in retail that was exactly WHY I hated the early Christmas season. I was so busy pricing and stocking and selling our merchandise that I just couldn't enjoy the anticipation of the season. Plus, as an Orthodox Christian, I was fasting, not partying and feasting, and I always felt it was rather unfair that I couldn't join in the fun. I knew the minute the feast arrived, and I finally had permission to be excited about it and enjoy it, everyone else would be yelling at me to turn the Christmas music off already and start taking down those decorations.
This year is different. I'm not in retail and I have an energetic toddler who is only just starting to appreciate the idea of Christmas, so not only am I excited to show him everything, but I don't have to feel that the holiday season is just a drag, another excuse for my company to overwork us. Also for the first time since I've been married we actually live in our own little house above ground where I can appreciate the weather changes and get excited about snow.
However, standing in my way is the fact that, for sensible ADULT people, who are good Orthodox Christians, and NOT materialistic, Christmas excitement shouldn't start for another month and a half. And while I can see their point and would prefer not to start decorating until at least December I really can't help resenting the idea that early starters to the Christmas season are just materialistic, secular people who have no idea what the feast is really about and want to spend as much of their time partying and being consumers as is socially acceptable at that time of year.
I will come clean. I WANT to get excited about Christmas the minute the weather turns cold near the end of September. That first really cold, dark, wet day brings back all the old memories of staying up late writing stories by the fireside with my cup of cocoa and the Nutcracker Suite playing on the record player until 2am. Life has gotten in the way since then. I grew up, I went to university--which can be just as bad as retail for destroying your excited anticipation of the season. Then I went abroad and started working, got married, lived in a basement where you never notice the cold blowing in because you can't see the weather from your windows. Christmas became about more work, more deadlines, more crappy customers, more people who really DON'T understand that Christmas isn't about presents, and the whole thing was just ruined.
I mean let's face it, some time in our teens we all realise that the "magic" of the season just isn't what it used to be when we were kids. I think that's partly because we're old enough to understand the stress of giving (and getting) the right presents, and as we get older, of making the food and decorations just right, and, when we have our own kids, making sure that THEY don't miss out on the "magic" and get lots of presents and opportunities for Christmas fun. It must be even harder for people whose parents told them Santa was real. I can't imagine the let down when kids find out that Christmas isn't magical. If you aren't religious it must be hard to work out what the point is.
Of course, I grew up Orthodox and I was never able to separate the holiday from the actual feast. Also my parents never lied to me about Santa, much to my grandmother's distaste, but for which I will always be grateful. Oh we heard about Santa. How could we not? But when we were old enough to ask if he was real we got the truth: no he's not, but it's a fun game isn't it? Precisely. Instead we learned about the REAL St. Nicholas, who is infinitely more interesting and who gave presents to the poor.
But it's the part about it being a fun game that I can't give up. Even though I grew to find the conventional coca-cola Santa Claus rather annoying, or even just bland, the whole Christmas spirit IS a fun game.
I know Christmas isn't about drinking cocoa and listening to Christmas records. I know it's not about presents and decorations and an excuse to dress really pretty. I know it's not about carols and cookies and snow. I know and have always known (and I'm tearing up as I write this) that it's about the Incarnation of GOD. It's HOLY and AWESOME-- in the real sense of the word. And that is definitely too much to handle for two months straight--at least if you're unholy like me. Neither should it disappear the moment the clock strikes midnight on December 25th. But all that secular stuff-- that's not what Christmas is about-- but it IS a fun game isn't it?
I can't help feeling excited about it and I have to curb the impulse to start planning it in August or September. That first blustery day just fills me with excitement and I feel 8 years old again. Aren't we able to come closer to God when we come to Him like children? I'll never forget the St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6th) that I prayed for snow and was answered the next morning with a perfect snowfall. I feel as though telling myself it's wrong to be excited about Christmas is somehow curbing an impulse that is good and natural--the impulse to be delighted by God's creation and celebrate it by recalling our own personal traditions-- like getting cozy with cocoa and listening to the Nutcracker. I realise that's something we ought to do all year round, but at no other time of year is it easier to remember who we are/were before all the world's concerns came pressing in on us. Christmas time, for a lot of us, is when we first remember being able to feel awe and wonder.
So I feel sympathy and sort of understand why secular people start the hype as soon as possible. I don't think they all do it out of pure materialism or trite notions about family togetherness. I think a lot of people miss that wonder they felt as children and when the only tradition they have is Christmas tradition (instead of Christian tradition) the draw of that tradition must be pretty powerful. I'm sure a lot of people don't understand it and are probably spending every penny they have or can borrow in an effort to capture that feeling they used to know as children. The more they spend the more it eludes them and so on in a vicious cycle that drives the poor retail workers to distraction. You have to feel sorry for them because they'll never know the REAL meaning of Christmas and never really have their efforts satisfied with the real joy of the feast.
So let 'em start the hype early, and for that matter, let me start the hype early. At least I know what it's about.
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