Where is Christmas?

Posted on by impossiblebebong

Where has Christmas gone? It used to be the most celebrated, most popular most observed season of the year but from where I am Christmas is barely there. Except of course in those business establishments where every season is an excuse to capitalize on people’s susceptibility to being seduced for maximum sale.

I cannot speak for other places for obvious reasons but the last time I have spent the holiday season in my birth country, I can tell you it was not how it used to be. What are the reasons why most people these days don’t even bother to put up a Christmas tree? Inflation perhaps? Recession? Don’t have time/interest, empty nest? I don’t know…

Wherever I drive around (except city centers where they are probably forced to do some minimal of decorations) I am confronted with dark streets and dark houses devoid of any festive trimmings. No lighted ornaments, no string of multi-colored lights around a tree or doorways; not even a simple wreath or statues of Santa. I find it a sad, sad affair.  If we don’t make efforts to separate ordinary days from (supposed to be) the most wonderful, glorious time of the year, how could we know it’s Christmas?

photo-holley-newyork-high-school-christmas-large2 

Published by impossiblebebong

Predictably Unpredictable. Fearlessly Authentic. Observing and absorbing life, collecting knowledge along the way, selecting what's best and keeping what is needed.

65 thoughts on “Where is Christmas?”

    1. I think some people (including me) do that already, celebrating each day that they are still alive. Still, I want some extra effort during this time of the year, to know it’s Christmas.

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      5. I’m at this moment putting in order my newly made photography blog and I’m stumbling all over the place. I will do a quick check over to your page and if interests me, count me in.

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      10. If you want to join, let me know, So that you can be part of the chain once the one who are currently in the queue finishes their stories!
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  2. “If we don’t make efforts to separate ordinary days from (supposed to be) the most wonderful, glorious time of the year, how could we know it’s Christmas?” Exactly!

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  4. It Is Christmas in some hearts but I think the spirit of Christmas gets eroded by corporate greed and consumerism. Let’s make it an annual event to honour Christmas in a way that spreads the joy and revives the spirit. Merry, Merry Christmas to you, hoping your holiday proves to be soulful, memorable and peaceful. ❤️

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      1. We will just have to make it so! 🙂 With you in spirit and saying no to anything that detours me. Glad I ran across your post, it heartened me so.

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  5. A good question. I wish my coop board allowed us to decorate and that we had outside outlets for that purpose! But alas, we must make do with the ribbon and pine garland around the sign welcoming you to our community. Nothing else is allowed.

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      1. I live in a cooperative community; it’s big building and I own a ground floor studio. It’s got a board and rules. One of the rules is no decorations for any holiday. So there are no outside outlets and we’re not allowed to put anything on the building’s edifice. We, the owners, own the inside of our apartments while the management agency owns the outside. So they make the rules. I decorated my studio though and I have a wreath on my door, but none of that is visible from the outside. Since my neighbor is all coops, there aren’t any decorations. None of their boards allow it either.

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      2. It’s like my mother in law’s apartment in the city center. And they have to pay a lot of money for maintenance every month and I thought is it really necessary since nothing really is to maintain every month. They don’t even have a garden.

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      3. The maintenance aspect is nice but I miss having a garden. I did put in a small one but there is too much shade and I couldn’t grow what I wanted to grow. But I do love my cozy studio.

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      4. There are lots of wonderful varieties you can grow in a shade. But I will not bore you with the details. What is the style of your studio? Minimalist? Mid century? eclectic? country? Modern? Art deco? Shabby chic, industrial?

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      7. It’s the truth too. If I could find it in blue, I bought it. Blue walls, curtains, carpets, etc, not the furniture though. Couldn’t find small inexpensive blue pieces there.

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      11. the walls are more like an aqua so when the light hits them they almost glow. Three walls are a lighter aqua and the fourth, the accent wall, is a much deeper hue in the same family. I have a small tan/caramel sectional, a chaise lounge perpendicular to the sliding doors to my “patio” a nice kitchen with a granite counter, a solid wood kitchen island, wardrobe, glass bookcase, closets recessed along one wall with white doors opposite the sliding doors. It’s a 600 ft box my place but more than enough room for me.

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      12. Sounds like a very cozy place indeed! Sea foam I sometimes called other hue of aqua. Others here named other variety as apple green sea blue. I can imagine you reading on the chaise lounge, the sliding door open admitting slight breeze and smell of flowers and greens from the patio during summer months. I like kitchen islands especially solid natural wood like an old butcher’s block. Do you have art on the walls? I rarely hang art. I rather lean them against walls.

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      13. I have nothing hanging on the walls. I keep changing my mind about what to put there. When I finally make up my mind, I’ll put something on the walls. My kitchen island has a butcher block. I bought it with the studio from the former owner and I love it!

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      6. I declined couple of dinner invitations because of this bloody condition and I thought I find already an opportunity to wear those good clothes of mine that are languishing too long in the closet.

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      8. I got aerosol inhaler now among so many other things. I know that because of my auto immune disease my immune system is down and can’t fight the usual battles so it is taking so long for me to recover. A simple infection can be fatal to my condition.

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  6. Where is Christmas? Good question. Somewhere in Western Asia, ironically. I still like the season and the day. I’ll go to my sister’s house most years, where she and my brother-in-law still have Christmas rather thoroughly. Tree, outside lights, crackers at the Christmas dinner table. My little town does pretty well, too. But you’re right–it doesn’t appear to have the impact of the past except for merchandising. Christmas should have an earthly effect on folk. A non-sectarian, Christmas effect would be just fine.

    I nominated you for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award. I hope that’s all right with you. At my blog (in the entry with the award name in the title) are the rules and the award’s icon. You are linked there as a nominee as well.

    Thank you!

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    1. I appreciate the gesture and honored but I don’t accept award. I’m grateful though to those who noticed and appreciate my writings. Thank you.

      Cherish those Christmasses that you still have. You are lucky to have your family. Not everyone can say the same.

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  7. I feel it and see it too. People have closed up, it seems. I think it has a lot to do with hope. People who have hope, and a little bit of goodness, are holding onto it like “their” nut might again be taken away. Those struggling to hope (like me this year) are bewildered and lost. It is indeed different. I sense it too. I’ve had other sad Christmases, but I was able to find some cheer. Even if it was putting on some Christmas music, driving around in my car looking at the Christmas lights and drinking cocoa for an hour. Now if you see a house lit up, it’s truly a wonderful sight. And rare.

    I’m not sure what is happening. And no, it isn’t about celebrating every day. We are supposed to do that to be our best selves. This is something else…

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    1. I cry tearlessly for every good tradition that died. I mourn them silently and watch in sadness for those that struggling to survive. Like you said I don’t know what is happening. Where do we go from here? The year that I noticed that morals and values are next to non existent I realized this world is changing and not for the better.

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  8. I think the only thing we can do is not to give up. Maybe others are turning away, but that does not mean we have to. We each can decide to keep the traditions for ourselves, and keep the hope alive, within, until others are ready to remember and share again. I am willing to be a hearth-burner, and hope one day others will find their way to it, to enjoy it.

    “This world won’t last for long. God won’t let it.” -Cold Mountain

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