“That’s Christmas to Me”
The Last Word
Not all countries celebrate Christmas, but for those who do, the definition of what Christmas is differs across the globe. Icelanders believe in a cat that eats all those who are not prepared for the winter weather. Russia has a tradition of decorating a New Year’s tree and waiting for “Grandfather Frost” to bring the children presents. In France you might find a child waiting for “Père Noël” to fill their shoes with gifts. And long before Christ came down to die for our sins pagan people participated in Yule—a 12 day celebration of the rebirth of the sun which, in modern day culture, has turned into the burning of the Yule log.
Whatever the tradition or belief, it seems to me this is supposed to be the best part of the year, when people are nicer to each other and there’s magic in the air.
This year, I’m just not feelin’ it. I honestly haven’t been since Christmas came to Hobby Lobby in July. When did Christmas become more about following a list of items to give a person the perfect holiday and less about what it should be—a beautiful moment of sharing time with family and celebrating the birth of Christ?
To answer this question for myself, I thought of last Christmas and looked at the holiday through the innocent, wondering eyes of my niece and nephew, Sawyer and Kipton. Sawyer wasn’t worried about making a perfect gingerbread house; she just wanted to have a frosting fight and see how many candies we could sneak before her mom caught us.
Kipton didn’t care about getting a multitude of gifts. Instead, he just wanted to crawl into his mom’s lap to cuddle while she read him stories. Everything we did that Christmas was about spending time together, away from the frequent distractions of everyday life.Over the next few weeks I want to recognize and spend time with the amazing people I have in my life and celebrate the reason for this season. For me, this looks less like decorating and listening to Christmas music and more like painting with my friends, giving myself a break from completing everything on my ‘perfect holiday’ list and instead making sure Christmas to me becomes about the One who gave me life.
This year I wish you all childlike wonder, multitudes of happiness and beautiful moments with family and friends.
Maegan Luckiesh is a senior studying graphic design.