Question in all seriousness: Just WHAT is Christmas all about?

[CatWoman]

When I was a young girl, it was all about presents.

As a teenager, it was all about family.

As a young mother, it was all about making sure my daughter had a bang up day.

As a young woman in the Army, it was just another day (duty rosters don't care about holidays, religious or political).

As a middle aged woman, I just don't know anymore.

Right after Halloween, it seemed like to corporate America, Thanksgiving didn't even exist. They only focused on the day after. Every effort was made to get people into the stores, and get their books in the black.

Even the radio stations began playing Christmas music 24/7. I'm not kidding. I was so used to listening to talk radio/Air America, but since we lost it, I'm at the mercy of local programming.

What happened to Joy to the World? Good will towards all men?

I watched Scrooge last night, and it had me longing for the days of yesteryear -- when all of the family came together, we gave the kids a wonderful time and lots of presents, and people were a little kinder towards one another.

[Subdivisions]

1. It's a bittersweet memory for me too, CatWoman. I too

long for the days as a child when the whole family would come together at Grandma's house for a days of nostagia-making Christmas cheer. Oh, do I so long for those times again. Sad.

Buy hey! We just have to make the best of it and have a great Christmas THIS YEAR!

[CatWoman]

3. I haven't thought about my Grandma in quite some time

thanks for that :hi:

And I'm really sad this year, but will try to make the best of it.

[hlthe2b]

11. Yes... I haven't really celebrated Christmas in many years..

Yes, I go through the motion buying things for work colleagues and wistfully thinking back to those big celebrations of my youth when my parents, my grandparents, and all the aunts and uncles were still alive, but unfortunately they are gone now--many very prematurely early. I've worked health care related fields for so long, along with my sister that I rarely have had Christmas off and the time of year is always so damned busy that I end up just wishing it would all pass--and quickly.

I'm not really feeling bah humbug-- but I just feel tired thinking of the whole thing.

That having been said, I love the quiet times of Christmas season--the lights, the attempts by at least some to be kinder to others--and being in Denver right now, the exorbitant 2-3 feet of snow!
I was out with my puppy dog and felt like parents do with their children-- I could experience the wonder of all that snow through my beloved doggy's eyes and joy. And now, looking outside at the very white snowscape in the dark, broken only by the lovely Christmas lights on homes all around, I feel, not lonely, but very peaceful. So, without being too corny, I hope, perhaps that is the meaning of Christmas right now...


:shrug:

[Trajan]

2. I am an Atheist .... but

I still find pleasure in the good feelings which might exist around this time of year ...

Surely your view of this will change as you age, and frankly, you should let your imagination take you to whatever place makes you feel best ; public service sometimes fills the void for many who are disillusioned about the meaning of it all ... It gives a TRUE substance to 'peace on earth' and 'goodwill towards (wo)men' if one can find a way to better someone elses life somehow ...

Peace on earth and goodwill towards humanity are worthy secular goals .... they are consistent with my worldview ...

[doublethink]

4. Remember this? You just reminded me of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA :)

[CatWoman]

8. LOLOLOLOL

I just bought that DVD. :)

Think I'll watch it tonite, after Star Trek :)

[doublethink]

29. Good for you.!

And that is what Christmas is all about. So lets keep fighting and make PEACE and good will toward men (women) come about in our lifetime. :hi: Merry Christmas! :hug:

[Swamp Rat]

5. ... joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea...

joy to you and me! :hug:

[CatWoman]

10. Swampy!!!

:hug:

[bdamomma]

25. Same to you Swamp Rat!!!

:hi:

[Warren Stupidity]

6. For me it has always been about family.

I ignore the crapola. It is about taking time off from work and spending that time with family and friends.

[CatWoman]

9. my family is so fractured right now

:cry:

[Warren Stupidity]

21. Actually mine as well.

For decades all my siblings would gather at our parent's house for an extended family holiday celebration, but my dad died a few years ago and my mom's slow decline into senility turned to crisis this spring and she is now living with my sister. We've sold our parent's house and for the first time in our extended familiy's short history, the holidays will be spent in our individual nukular family units scattered around the globe. So this year the winter celebration is a bit on the meloncholy side.

[senseandsensibility]

7. They can't make any money off Thanksgiving

so that's why they ignore it. I think that's what this phony "War On Christmas" is all about too. I used to think they just used it to distract the sheeple from the fact that chimp has run the country into the ground. But the corporations must also be afraid that if fewer people celebrate Christmas they will lose money. And heaven forbid if Christmas was about family. How can anyone make money off that?

[Lost-in-FL]

12. Nothing better that shopping...

to combat the HOLIDAY blues. :sarcasm:

In a more serious tone, I know the feeling. I didn't even decorated this year. Between waiting too late to put everything up and feeling guilty of celebrating while other suffer, I just couldn't get myself to do it.

[neuvocat]

13. Everyone SAYS its about getting together

but really there has been an ongoing shift to buy things: if you don't buy presents for someone then you don't love him or her, OR if they don't buy you anything they don't love you.

I've become very ambivalent about the holidays I suppose because I've spent so many of them without family. Sometimes that can actually be very beneficial-there is a great deal of peacefulness in the absence of family members you don't care for.

The holidays are over-hyped as they are expected to be the collection of days where perhaps nothing bad happens, only good things.

I think that we need to consider that it doesn't have to be the end of the year for people to have peace and goodwill to one another. There are plenty of holidays, birthdays, weekends, and festivals the whole year round, not to mention those who are destitute all year round.

Let the pukes have their so-called "war on christmas"-a fantasy concocted to pacify one with delusions of a war that they can't help but win.

That's my take, anyway.

[madrchsod]

14. kin`a lost meaning when i left my church

i`ve done things around christmas time since that is in the true spirit of the teachings but alas not enough. now that i grow closer each christmas seems to take on more importance maybe i`m worried about my judgment!

[stillcool]

15. This used to be the most depressing...

time of the year for me. It seemed like the hole in my soul was magnified from Thanksgiving till New Years. I no longer celebrate holidays, but consciously think of Christmas as the birth of spirituality in me. The realization that... I am you. We are all circles traveling through time, bouncing off each other...altering our course by that little bump, changing our perception. That my life is for me, and in the very worst of times.. I've been okay. That wonderful, wild things happen to me without me doing a thing. That there is no such thing as security or permanence..that change is certain..that if I want to see God I can look at the ocean...or the human body...or the ability people have to endure tremendous hardships and not only survive, but are somehow bettered, made more whole by the experience....all that stuff...

[benddem]

16. everytime some one asks me

"are you ready for Christmas?" I wan't to ask them what the hell that means. I used to love it. We went to some family members house...had lots of fun with cousins. I only remember one Christmas that wasn't white. I loved Christmas in Germany in Nurnberg. I lived downtown and Nurnberg is famous for its "Christkindlesmarkt" I can still smell the Lebkuchen (gingerbread) gluh wein, bratwursts and the lights and the people. I'm so glad I have AAR so I don't have to listen to Xmas Carols 24/7. I love them, but the radio stations over do them. Just like Oprah's commercial on AAR. When I was in Saudi Arabia my favorite thing was there were no Christmas carols...that was about the only thing I liked.
But now it is so commercial. Christmas candy before Halloween, Wall to wall sales..arghh.

[Trajan]

18. Lebkuchen means 'Gingerbread' ? ....

HA ! ..... Will have to bother Leb about that ....

[koopie57]

17. Ah CatWoman

I watched Scrooge last night too, with Patrick Stewart I think it was.

But, I'm sorry to hear of your struggles this season. I wish everyone could find peace and comfort from the season cuz I know how much I hurt during this time. I hate to think of anyone else feeling this alone and lost, well not so much anymore.

The last Christmas I remember when I was little was the one after my dad died. My aunts and uncles came over, everyone was uncomfortable, but I wasn't alone and being the smallest sort of was the center of attention. It was nice but not so nice. Christmas of 1963.

After that my Christmases were spent alone with my mom and when she got drunk enough to pass out I would walk around the town looking into people's windows to see their celebration. Sometime before July my brothers would show up, we'd open presents and they would tell me all about their wonderful holidays with their girlfriend's or wife's family.

Now I no longer need them at Christmas as I have learned to enjoy the peace and quiet of the season. But now they feel guilty and want to make it up to me. So each year I go over to their house sometime in the month after Christmas (no way on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day cuz I don't think they feel that guilty) and slap on a smile, pretend I don't really exist and give them what they need to feel okay.

I feel guilty because I know there are others who feel like me but who are not strong like me. I wish I could figure out how to reach out to others who would be comforted by my playing checkers with them, watching the tv yule log, whatever. But yes, in the back of my mind, I worry that they will feel cheated by spending the day with me.

Well, I hope you have a special surprise this season, something to help you to feel better, to grow. It is the holiday of miracles and no matter what, I still believe in the season.

[mondo joe]

19. For me it's about family and presents. It has no religious aspect for me - just fun and

materialism.

[orleans]

20. for a long time now, the ritual of christmas and present buying

has felt absurd to me.

i love to buy presents for people but ... i don't know ... there is the feeling of joy i had when i was younger that has gone -- maybe it's an age thing w/me

[robcon]

22. Ridiculous question - not "in all seriousness" - IMO

Christmas means an enormous number of things to various people...

shopping occasion
birth of a savior
gift giving season
gift receiving season
opportunity for family get-togethers
burden of family get-togethers
season of loneliness
etc., etc., etc.

I don't think the OP is genuine - looking for "what Christmas is all about" is a phony exercise, IMO.

[CatWoman]

26. and just who the fuck are you

to question whether I am genuine or not? where the fuck do YOU get off??? you have NOT walked in my shoes, and I highly take exception to your condescending attitude/remarks.

[spinbaby]

23. Ignore the commercial stuff

Christmas is lighting sparkly lights against the winter's darkness.

It's a chance to do nice things for other people.

It's getting together with relatives you haven't seen in a long time.

It's cooking extravagant meals and eating too much.

Done right, Christmas is cozy and hardly involves shopping at all.

[robcon]

28. or it's not... it depends on how you celebrate

I think your post is arrogant. The idea that there is a way to do Christmas "right" is stupid.

[marzipanni]

38. Check the sole of your shoe

there might be a thorn or thumbtack irritating your foot.

[bdamomma]

24. At one time Christmas was viewed as joyous and peaceful

that was before the Corporations commercialized it beyond recognition. I also feel the same way Cat Woman, we have lost our innocence.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

27. Beside the religious aspect,

I think it is mostly about family. If a family repeats pleasant traditions during a time of family togetherness, it builds a basis for good memories for a lifetime. It is a way for family members to gain a little bit of immortality within their own circle, as well as strengthening family ties for future generations.

I think we all try to do this with our children and grandchildren, but sometimes we lack the knowledge. Developing memories with toys and money doesn't build tradition. When that's all there is to it, it is just an empty memory.

When I was growing up, it was a tradition in our family on Christmas Eve to go to church, return home to a special dinner (usually ham and potato salad fixed ahead), and opening presents around the tree. Each present had to be received with a short Christmas carol or poem. To this day, I remember very few presents. But I can still see the smiles on the faces of my parents and grandparents, and even hear those long gone voices. And that to me, to this day, is what Christmas is all about.

[UTUSN]

30. Answer: An excuse for me to LUERVE you??

:toast: :hi: :loveya: :headbang: :applause:

[H2O Man]

31. "...and it had me longing

for the days of yesteryear -- when all of the family camew together, we gave the kids a wonderful time and lots of presents, and people were a little kinder towards one another."

Well that is it: that is what the holiday is. We cannot go backwards in time, though we often find a strange measure of pleasure and longing in remembering days gone by. And we cannot change the past. But we can change that future that we are thrust into -- by what we do today. Being kinder. To each other. By being kinder. And starting with ourselves.

[CatWoman]

32. you know, I've had a very, very rough 2 weeks

at times, I was extremely close to snapping.

now I'm at the point where I just want to go off.

[H2O Man]

33. I know that.

I know that you are having a rough time. You've had reason to be close to snapping, and for feeling like you want to just go off. Your loss makes a holiday very difficult.

It's a good time to spend time with your friends on DU. You can mix that with spending time alone. I am happy to be your friend.

[CatWoman]

34. I think I'm going to cry

thanks for being my friend :loveya:

[H2O Man]

35. Check your e-mail .... n/t

[unkachuck]

36. self-delete....

....Sorry you're feeling so down CatWoman....hope you feel better soon....

[Lydia Leftcoast]

37. First of all, I'm sorry you're having a rough time

:hug:

My extended family decided a few years ago that the adults would not buy presents for one another and would only get presents for the kids. However, now the kids are older and are happiest with money or gift certificates, so I' concentrate on getting a bag of simple presents for each household.

I just withdraw from the commercial, Martha Stewart aspects entirely. I also concentrate on Advent, lighting candles at dinner each evening.

Otherwise, as a member of a cathedral choir, I find meaning in the Advent and Christmas services and music. This year is rather poignant, because a long-time member of the choir died this past week. This evening, as we gave the second of our Lessons and Carols services, we each carried her picture in our folders.