I'll Be Home for Christmas

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Christmas is over but it is still in the air. Christmas decors are still up. People are still playing Christmas songs. I just love the Christmas season, especially since I get to spend some time in my hometown with the whole family. It is without doubt the most wonderful time of the year. I really find it hard to believe that statistically speaking, the rate of depression and suicide reaches an all-time high around these times. I mean. what could some people be depressed about? The lack of money? The absence of loved ones? That's the kind of things that you worry about for the rest of the year. Does other people's happiness amplify some people's sadness? Could be. But for me, it is still not a good enough reason to hang yourself. Happiness is supposed to be contagious. It's easier said than done, I know. But think of it this way. You probably have the same problem for most of the year. The holiday season offers a chance of respite from all that, even if it is just for a little while. So what if after Christmas you wake up and realize tat your problems are bigger that ever? What's new? As long as we're alive, we will have problems. Everybody is struggling one way or the other. But I simply can't believe that someone would like melancholy so much that he cannot appreciate the repose that Christmas is offering.

It's true that Christmas is not  like what it used to be. Very few people seems to be aware of its true meaning. For some, it is just a reason to splurge and this mentality has given rise to the kind of commercialism that equates happiness to spending. It is ridiculous of course but most people fall into this kind of trap, myself included. But to each his own and if some people believe that they could buy happiness, who are we to tell them otherwise?

I remembered when I was a kid, I used to receive gifts on Christmas from my aunts. I was very happy. Admittedly, the magnitude of my happiness is directly proportional to the price tag of the gift. But the mere act of receiving is a gift in itself. I never remembered being sad because I received less than what I expected. We did not ask gifts from our parents and they never gave us any on Christmas. On New Year's though, my parents have this long standing tradition of strewing coins in the living room as if they were confetti. My siblings and I would scramble to get as many as we can. We still do this up to this day but as expected I am no longer at the receiving end of gifts. Except for the compulsory gift-giving during Christmas party at the office, I do not receive gifts anymore. But you know what? It's okay. I like giving gifts anyway.

And the look on people's faces when they received their little wrapped presents? Priceless.