Christmas Always

For most, this is the 'best' time of the year.  Families travel for vacations and friends visit friends even if they are far away.  

For some others, this time of year is the direct opposite.  Christmas is commercialised - gone are the days where the spirit of giving meant something great.  Some families, do not have enough excess to celebrate a commercialised Christmas.

I have been through life's horrible mill, of RNG.  In gaming, we say that's Random Number Generator.  Every time we are subject to RNG, I never win the loot.  Like lucky draws and lottery, my number never gets called.  It's laughable that something as random as RNG avoids me.

BUT for those who struggle to make sense in an unbalanced world, I say - forget the RNG.  Make it work for you.  How? When everything revolves around money.  

Back in the day, when I celebrated Christmas in my own home, young and just 5 years into the workforce and a toddler in tow, I bought an artificial tree, decked it up with green and red bows - bows I made from rolls of ribbons (cheaper to buy a roll of ribbon than a ready made bow).  I bought the shortest string of twinkle lights and that made Christmas alive for my toddler.  We didn't have much, but we had each other and my toddler didn't know any better.

Today, when my toddler is a grown young man, Christmas is not celebrated but observed.  It's not about wrapping up something expensive but about spending time with people who matter to us.

This week, my friend, took time off from his work, to spend an afternoon with us, at our new home.   Next week, another friend will be lunching with me, something we do each year, this season.  No gifts, no fanfare, just being there for each other because we matter to each other.

I wish, every child will have the opportunity to feel that he can matter in this world, if he doesn't sell out to commerce.  A quiet Christmas, a quiet New Year - spent with those who mean something to us.  

Forget the loud bashes, where people get drunk.  That anyone can do.  What's so difficult in downing an entire bottle of alcohol and getting wasted right?  An idiot can do that.

What takes effort, is keeping those we care for, in our hearts and mind, without pretense, totally lucid.  That is Christmas.  

I have come a long way, a long long way from naked trees to none at all.  BUT I did not loose Christmas ; I keep that in my heart always.