Renewing The Holiday Spirit

I asked a friend why I wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit. I think I’d said before that I wasn’t smelling Christmas, you know that smell Christmas is known for. It’s unique only to this season. It’s like the air is stuffed and free all at once. Like you’re perceiving nothing and everything at the same time. It’s a whole thing that is peculiar to Christmas. So when I didn’t perceive that air for the first few days of December, it got me a little confused.

But the good news was that, soon enough I started perceiving that air and I was grateful for it. Then came the next thing. I saw a tweet where someone said, “Is it just me or this year’s Christmas isn’t Christmas-ing.” I immediately knew that that’s how I felt. I’m not sure if it’s the same for everyone in all regions of the world, but in my country, at least, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s cause the cost of living has skyrocketed since the new government came into power, maybe it’s because everyone has gone through a lot to have anything to really celebrate about, I don’t know.

But I don’t like it.

On the streets and everywhere, everyone’s walking around like it’s a normal day. I do realize, however, that not everyone can feel like that. I understand that in this same country, the 1% elite may count this year’s Christmas as their best. Or maybe they’re having it just as bad as the average bloke. Who knows? Because it’s not about the resources, it’s about the heart and if our hearts don’t just resonate with this season, no matter how much we have, it won’t make a difference.

The point is that I kept feeling that, and still somewhat do. But I didn’t like it. So, it was a kind of subconscious decision in the house to make this year’s Christmas the kind of Christmas we’d like. We harvested two of the ripe pineapples from the garden. I didn’t know that, but my Mom called me to come take pictures of them. It was a whole experience. We peeled and cut one into pieces that we ate as a family and then Dad called two of the neighbours and cut the other one which was way bigger for their families. We kind of keep to ourselves a lot as a family so it was a lovely way of reaching out and conversing pretty well with the others. And our way of kicking off the Christmas festivities.

There are still a lot more things we’re putting together for the remainder of the holidays but I figured that if it made everyone forget their worries even for a little while and smile a bit, then it’s certainly worth it.

Mom had been feeling a bit sad and I knew how it felt in this period, reminiscing about times she spent with her immediate younger sister who passed away at about this period a few years ago. Knowing that this was how she felt, my sisters and I set up Zoom calls where we talked to everyone from Mom’s side. That included my cousin-brothers who are the children of Mom’s late sister and the rest of her siblings who are with their families all around the world.

It was nice to see my Mom laugh so hard. She has two types of laughter. The one she has when she’s having business conversations that could come off as plastic and the one where she gives just two people: her family and her siblings. She laughs with such reckless abandon when she’s talking with her siblings and it was nice to see that and be able to work out a way to exorcise loneliness from the family.

I believe that just as much as this Christmas is about giving gifts, it’s also about sharing true love with everyone we come across. Over here, you could get a scathing glare for even smiling too much so I don’t recommend walking about with a big smile or anything. You may legit end up crying at the end of the day. Lol. But the little ways we can put smiles on the faces of the people we love, whether it’s by calling or just reaching out in any way, it’s a beautiful way of showing our love, devotion and care to them.

The Holiday season may end pretty soon, so these little ways count. A little smile, a kind word, a genuine gift, it would all count toward making this Christmas the kind that we want.

Share a #KISS today.

Jhymi🖤

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_{Images are mine.}