I saw The Man Who Invented Christmas two weeks ago and I came out of it emotional, pensive, and deeply moved. I highly recommend this movie. The performances were masterfully executed by each actor (*cough* Dan Stevens *cough*) and actress. I am not reviewing, nor summarizing this move, I will be discussing a (spoiler-free) quote that resonated with me immediately upon its being delivered and a personal philosophy I have had since childhood that was portrayed beautifully in this movie.

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

This is a more eloquent expression of something I believe wholeheartedly but could not find the words for. It resonated with me because I have experienced having some of my passions or skills that lightened my burdens be invalidated because someone else did not understand them or did not see their value to me. For example, I love words and they are the only things that have ever naturally made sense to me. Reading and writing have always been my inclinations, science did not interest me, and math was complete and utter chaos in my head.

Everyone around me could understand math and science quickly, and get good scores on tests, while I only scored high in reading and writing. I received evaluations of my reading comprehension and writing skill that were beyond my grade level, but it did not seem to be enough because even from a young age, I learned that numbers and formulae were what smart people were good at.

Even though I could create entire universes in my own stories and envision the worlds of someone else in books, I thought I was a lost cause and that I could not do, be, or make anything worthwhile because the numbers that everyone said were constant and unchanging were not for me. Yet words were.

When I started studying Latin in middle school, I found that it was my safe place that reminded me that I was smart when I felt defeated by “simple” math or completely inept because of a biology lab. When I told someone that it was fun for me and talked about how much I enjoyed studying it because I was finally good at something individual to myself, I always heard, “isn’t that a dead language?” or, “why not spend your time learning a practical language that you can speak?”.

The first time I did, my heart sank. All I wanted was to be good at something, enjoy something, and not feel like it was being torn down to my face. Everyone said reading and writing were easy, so I thought any skill I had was nullified by that fact. But when I mentioned Latin, people were interested in what I had to say (at first) because it was different and it seemed intimidating.

But because it was not a “practical” language that was spoken worldwide, it was regarded as an "academic pastime" that was made worthwhile by the fact that I could use it later (like how algebra is only useful when you take calculus later). I tried to prove myself every day to “make up for falling short” which fed into my perfectionism.

I had to tell myself every day that I was not stupid because I could not comprehend math and science. But when a circumstance in my life did not make sense, I reminded myself that despite my confusion, the works of Virgil and Cicero did.

I spent years having to repeatedly tell myself that I was indeed still intelligent despite what my ACT score or anyone else said because I internalized the lie that since numbers were the furthest thing from order and sense to me, I was stupid and was not going to get anywhere I wanted to in life.

Therefore, I have no tolerance when I hear someone say that the arts are pointless. I have no tolerance for people who make others feel like they must bookend something they love with justifying why they love it out of self-protection.

Do not take something like that away from someone because you do not see its merit. It is heartless, hurtful, and destructive. Latin is what taught me how to love learning, and it taught me to see the vast courage of someone who exuberantly shares with me their extensive knowledge of Star Trek trivia or what is cool about the Great Barrier Reef simply because they love it and want me to see it the way they do.

Please listen when someone tells you about something they love and why they love it even if you do not understand it because it is not useless if it inspires them to walk through life continually enjoying things, learning, and sharing it with others.

Latin is what got me through high school. It is what reminded me that I was smart, capable, and it made me special because I kept an ancient language alive even for just one more lifetime. It reminds me that people, no matter how society paints them, are smart, powerful, and they hold more meaning than we can ever know.

That knowledge of Star Trek trivia can bring people together, yet it is made fun of; That public servant who helps you when you need it with no credit asked is scoffed at because of societal views on their career; That artisan or craftsman skilled in their trade, whose work is bought and displayed, yet whose field is mocked are not useless to this world. They can inspire wars to start or stop, they keep history alive and well, and most importantly, they inspire us to keep living.

Listen to this wonderful song for more on this thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUVR2OtLIPY

Finally, my personal childhood philosophy closes the movie.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"

I listen to Christmas music all year because Christmastime should not be the only time to have childlike wonder, be generous, be aware of magic in the world, or to be too excited about the next day to go to sleep. Listening to Christmas music in April and October, as well as December also reminds me of how I should live as professing Christian. I should always marvel at the world, I should always be expectant for something great to come, I should always enter new places vulnerable and full of love as Jesus did, and I should always put goodness for goodness's sake into practice.

I also still believe in Santa Claus because I know that he is every bit as much real as he was in my childhood, even though he does not necessarily take the form we tell children he does. Santa is portrayed as a jolly old man for the same reason Jesus came in the form He did.

Jesus came as someone who would not be considered educated, who is so much of what society mistreats, and He even died in the worst possible way of His time: crucifixion. Santa takes the form of an old man because the elderly are often forgotten at Christmas. He exemplifies the lesson that magic is hidden in plain sight and that the most “normal” people can be the ones who are so much more that what we can see.

In closing, find meaningful things and people to enrich your life, share about them to others, and listen to what matters to someone else.