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Monday, November 23, 2009
The Early Bird Gets to Smile More
I hear grousing.
Lots of comments about stores being decorated too early for xmas, music on the radio too soon, people grumbling and grinching and scrooging about. I get it. The commercial pressure and financial strain are so discouraging, and most of us have decades of tradition that add to the feeling that it's just too early/doesn't feel right!
B & I had to go out this weekend to our local Christmas emporium to buy a new tree because, last year, he tried to "rewire" one of the sets of limbs that was out.
--** ZZZZT, he cut thru a wire **--
So we needed a new tree. For the record, I have no intention of letting him near electrical any time soon... and he was sufficiently surprised enough for it to leave an indelible impression.
After we found the perfect tree, we left the xmas shop, and went to Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn etc, and saw all the decorations. When we returned to the sunlight, I really looked at the street and shopping areas along Old Town Pasadena, all decked and flocked and gussied. All day I'd been feeling like it was too early for everything. But then I looked around, and thought... look how peaceful it is, because everyone else is resisting the season. Not many shoppers. No crowds. Everything was festive and cheery, and Andy Williams was insisting that "It's the Holiday Season."
I came home realizing that I can keep the spirit aloft a little longer this year because it started earlier. And I thought about all the people whose day it may have brightened. Mine certainly. The season, despite what anyone wants to attach to it, religion or commercialism, does engender increased smiles and kindness and generosity. I think of it as the momentum of the season (the spirit)... and if that momentum gets started a little earlier because of the retail greed, well, maybe that's the silver lining.
When I think of Black Friday and the compressed three weeks of December that follow, it feels like maybe one or two more weeks to ease into the holiday at our own pace would be a welcome addition. I don't know anyone who would argue that this wasn't a pretty rocky year for most people. Auntie Mame said it so succinctly" maybe "We need a little Christmas, right this very minute." And since I can't stop it anyway, I have two choices: resent & resist, or embrace the silver lining.
Happy Holidays!
Shephard :)
posted by Shephard @ 