If you know me at all, you know that I am absolutely obsessed with Christmas. I love the lights, the food, the family, the movies! I love it all, I even own a Christmas sweater-vest (see attached picture). This year, more than years past, I've been contemplating what it is about this time of year that brings me so much joy, when did it start?
This is the moment where I have to credit my parents, because they have always put in the extra effort into making Christmas the most wonderful. My dad let me help him make sugar cookies even though I am absolutely positive that my "help" made the process take twice as long, and I singlehandedly made twice the mess. My mom always lets me help decorate the tree, reminiscing about where and when we got each ornament; she took the time to tell me these stories and that meant everything. They managed to create a spirit of magic every Christmas Eve night, I don't know how they did it but every Christmas morning it would feel real. Because it was real.
As we become adults, we think that because (kids stop reading here) Santa isn't real that the magic of Christmas is gone. Who told us that?
The magical feeling was real, ask any person to reminisce on the Christmas mornings of their childhood and every single one remembers that feeling. It was never orchestrated by a mystical chunky guy, it was made and created by the hands of the people who loved you. Those people still exist, that love can still create something magical. Our entire childhoods we thought that the magic was caused by an external factor, and now being the wise adults we are we see that it has always come from an internal place. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but I guess I don't care because that seems so much more magical to me! Yes, some factor of it was made by the power of the belief itself, but I argue that doesn't have to change either. I still believe in the power of love, of togetherness, of salvation; all things that the spirit of Christmas stands on.
This Christmas, without the social demands this time usually brings, I want to make a little magic. I want to watch Charlie Brown and sit in the darkness on Christmas Eve only with the glow of a Christmas tree; reflecting on what this night meant. The beauty of this season and this significance of it. I want to eat a ton of food, not feel bad about it, and then eat even more cookies. I want to stay in my pajamas all day and share stories of our favorite memories, and our dreams. All of this is magical, and all of this can be done.
Magic doesn't just happen, it's created. So, this Christmas, despite the very real suckiness some of us may be facing, I urge you to live your Christmas as a child. Believe in something, anything, and believe in it so hard that it becomes magical.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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