Christmas is the best.
...And also the worst. Christmas is the time of year when it is the easiest to believe in magic. It is the time when people become generous and giving, kind and joyful. The snow turns the world into a clean slate, ready for the new year, hiding or washing away all of the problems, mistakes or transgressions of the past year. It hides the corrupt nature of humanity and leaves an open canvas for us to start over. Almost like a "year of jubilee." The reason Christmas is the worst, is because the kindness starts and ends there.
Christmas, I'm frustrated with you for three reasons. Here they are:
1. I'm frustrated with you because you're an excuse to be kind. People use it as an excuse to be "different" than the usual. They use Christmas as an excuse to donate to the homeless or the Salvation Army. They use Christmas as an excuse to get gifts for the people they usually ignore. People who on the daily don't give a rip about the poverty around them, use Christmas as an excuse to suddenly care. While this is always a good thing, caring about and being compassionate towards those around us, it saddens me that this cannot become the norm. It saddens me that these people are clearly capable of love and compassion, but they only choose to exercise these virtues during one short season of the year.
2. On the other hand, I'm frustrated with you, Christmas, because people use you as an excuse to be utterly rude. While some people are branching out and choosing kindness during the Christmas season, others are using it as a time to put their own wants and needs as well as those of their loved ones above everything else--including being decent towards other people. It's easy to get so focused on our little circles of friends and family and lose sight of the world as a whole. What I don't understand, Christmas, and one of the biggest reasons that I'm frustrated with you, is that you are a season of giving. You are a season of reflecting on how blessed a people we are, and how miraculous the birth of Jesus is, and yet a large portion of humanity is using you as an excuse to ignore other people just to satisfy their own greed and self-absorption.
3. Lastly, Christmas, I'm frustrated with you because you won't last. You're a season. Season's change. I understand that, but since when does a season changing mean that people change their behavior and thought? When it's summer, I change my shirt, not my personality. I'm frustrated with Christmas because I know that as soon as this magical time of kindness, determination and love is over, people will go right back to their old ways.
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the snow, the music, the magical food and atmosphere. I also know that I am these people I've referenced. I'm all of them! At Christmas time I get very sentimental--I want to donate to every charity and love on everyone, but I'm also far less tolerant towards everyone. I get frustrated when I drive, and I'm judgmental. I also know that I'll go right back to normal come January.
And that frustrates me. Christmas, I love you, but I just wish that the love of Christmas was an all-the-time thing.
