The Meaning of Christmas
It's Thursday! I haven't finished the paper I've been trying to write for several days. But I am done with finals.
I'll never be able to understand why my friends hate Christmas so much. I don't care what the reasons are. Holidays are holidays. You can either make them your own, or you can be cynical and aggravated by it. If you choose to be angry on a holiday, that's your own fault. Christmas is no more responsible for your feelings than cats are responsible for making my nose runny.
Granted, Christmas doesn't mean the same thing to me that it does to most people, but choosing what things mean to you is part of what makes us human. We survive because we're capable of adaptation. If you choose not to adapt, that's your own fault.
When I had a long streak of being single, Valentine's Day was never a day that brought me misery. Love isn't romantic. Love is universal. You can enjoy love for friends, love for yourself, love for your hobbies. Anything that you love, you should be able to enjoy, and if you choose, Valentine's Day can be a day when you celebrate all the things and people that you love.
Christmas is a time where you give up all the stupid little things that make you upset with people. You can forgive all the bullshit, forgive yourself, let things go, and be a whole person without regrets or baggage. You can do that, or you can focus on the commercialism, the banalities, and even all the people who are too stressed out to enjoy the holiday for what it really is. Whether or not you believe in Christ, the idea can be universal. This is a holiday when everything is okay: everything is lifted from you. Relax, enjoy the eggnog and the holiday treats, give presents to those who you love, and enjoy being with them. Celebrate your friendships for the good things they offer you. Stop being a dick about Christmas. You fucking ruin it for the rest of us.
As for Happy Holidays... whatever. Merry Christmas to all of you. You may wish me a Merry Yule, or a Happy Hanukkah, or a Happy Kwanza, and I won't be offended. "I don't celebrate Christmas." Well, good for you. Do you want a cookie? Oh, I guess you don't celebrate cookies either. Good wishes are good wishes. If you get one, accept it for what it is. I repeat, stop being a dick about Christmas.
Was Christ born around Christmas? Probably not. More than likely not. No one gives a damn. This is when we celebrate it: on the festival of the Winter Solstice. Yeah, I know that. I still call it Christmas, and I still celebrate the idea of Christ's birth. If we celebrated it during September, then it wouldn't have the same meaning. Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. We celebrate Christmas now because this is the time when the days get longer. It is significant now.
And again, stop being a dick about Christmas. Either enjoy it, or let me enjoy it. Have yourself whatever Christmas you want to have. I hope it's merry, but I can't control how you celebrate the holiday. So even if you sit at home pouting about the stupidity of people and how inane the whole idea of Christmas is, I hope you'll at least be merry while you whine.
Merry Christmas to us all. And to all, a good night.
I'll never be able to understand why my friends hate Christmas so much. I don't care what the reasons are. Holidays are holidays. You can either make them your own, or you can be cynical and aggravated by it. If you choose to be angry on a holiday, that's your own fault. Christmas is no more responsible for your feelings than cats are responsible for making my nose runny.
Granted, Christmas doesn't mean the same thing to me that it does to most people, but choosing what things mean to you is part of what makes us human. We survive because we're capable of adaptation. If you choose not to adapt, that's your own fault.
When I had a long streak of being single, Valentine's Day was never a day that brought me misery. Love isn't romantic. Love is universal. You can enjoy love for friends, love for yourself, love for your hobbies. Anything that you love, you should be able to enjoy, and if you choose, Valentine's Day can be a day when you celebrate all the things and people that you love.
Christmas is a time where you give up all the stupid little things that make you upset with people. You can forgive all the bullshit, forgive yourself, let things go, and be a whole person without regrets or baggage. You can do that, or you can focus on the commercialism, the banalities, and even all the people who are too stressed out to enjoy the holiday for what it really is. Whether or not you believe in Christ, the idea can be universal. This is a holiday when everything is okay: everything is lifted from you. Relax, enjoy the eggnog and the holiday treats, give presents to those who you love, and enjoy being with them. Celebrate your friendships for the good things they offer you. Stop being a dick about Christmas. You fucking ruin it for the rest of us.
As for Happy Holidays... whatever. Merry Christmas to all of you. You may wish me a Merry Yule, or a Happy Hanukkah, or a Happy Kwanza, and I won't be offended. "I don't celebrate Christmas." Well, good for you. Do you want a cookie? Oh, I guess you don't celebrate cookies either. Good wishes are good wishes. If you get one, accept it for what it is. I repeat, stop being a dick about Christmas.
Was Christ born around Christmas? Probably not. More than likely not. No one gives a damn. This is when we celebrate it: on the festival of the Winter Solstice. Yeah, I know that. I still call it Christmas, and I still celebrate the idea of Christ's birth. If we celebrated it during September, then it wouldn't have the same meaning. Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year. We celebrate Christmas now because this is the time when the days get longer. It is significant now.
And again, stop being a dick about Christmas. Either enjoy it, or let me enjoy it. Have yourself whatever Christmas you want to have. I hope it's merry, but I can't control how you celebrate the holiday. So even if you sit at home pouting about the stupidity of people and how inane the whole idea of Christmas is, I hope you'll at least be merry while you whine.
Merry Christmas to us all. And to all, a good night.