Modern life is defined by many things, the ubiquity of technology, the increase in global interconnectedness, the rise of diversity, but above all else it is defined by almost unceasing change in al aspects of life. Technology, economics, and culture all seam to conspire to further complicate an already complicated world and before a new equilibrium can be reached the balance is upset again. These rapid changes in the world are only compounded for a young adult. Living on your own or the first time the certainties and cornerstones of childhood and adolescence begin to come undone, you cycle though countless new acquaintances as old friends grow distant, struggle with forging a comprehensive and unique identity that fits in with the world, and try to stake out stable economic and social prospects to build a future on. The changes wrought by college and starting out in life are indeed dramatic. But against this constant background of upheaval one thing stands out as a comforting island of familiarity and stability, Christmas.

Christmas occupies a familiar and comforting place in society. It brings a particular certainty with it where Rudolph's nose is always shiny, Santa Claus is always coming to town, and Charlie Brown is always looking for the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas turns mixing cultural nostalgia and modern innovation into an art form. You can always guarantee that the crooning voices of Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole will dominate the airwaves along with the of repeats of your favorite song, all crisp as the day they were first recorded. And yet you can also bet that every few years a new song will climb the charts and take its place as a new sound of the season. On television the process is mirrored as holiday classics continue to be shown without fail alongside their ever evolving descendants as they all navigate and renavigate holiday trials and triumphs.

Furthermore, Christmas manages to give everyone a chance to enjoy itself without being owned by any one group. An example of this is how it balances the religious and commercial sides of itself. Both have a stake in and a strong identification with it yet Christmas manages exist without either one being able to fully supplant the other and have complete ownership of it. It transcends its origins as a religious holiday and resits modern attempts to become fully commercialized. Instead it combines them to become the greater of both parts. This is what gives Christmas a level of accessibility that other holidays are incapable of matching.

However beyond commercial successes and childhood nostalgia lies a deeper sentiment that strikes at the heart of what makes Christmas so enduring in our cultural landscape that we take a break from our regular lives to stop and take it all in. Its perhaps the one time a year we actually allow ourselves to hope, to really believe in a better world, a world in which the ideals of friendship, family, peace on earth, and goodwill toward men exist as more than just words. Its the belief in these ideals that we've come to fix the term the Christmas spirit to. Many of the most timeless aspects of the Christmas season are what draw upon this spirt weather its the belief that a bad person can be redeemed such as Scrooge in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, that even the most hardened skeptic can believe in the magic of the season represented by Miracle on 34th Street, or that a person can recognize their true worth such as George Bailey in Its a Wonderful life. Its these beliefs that give Christmas its hold over the imagination that allows it to transcend the spirit of any age, rife with change or not.

No matter what life throws at us, no matter how rapid the world changes before our eyes Christmas will always remain as a safe port in the storm of uncertainty. Perhaps Christmas can serve as a model for how to live in a society where change and tradition can coexist peacefully together. Certainly not every day can be Christmas but we can use a little bit of the Christmas spirit in every day.