The Christmas panacea
The symptoms that Christmas is just around the corner:
- Hearing Christmas songs played in National Bookstore and SM malls
- Jose Mari Chan's Christmas songs playing in the radio
- Christmas lights strewn across the trees of malls
- Christmas trees set up on mall foyers
- Parols hung along Ayala Avenue
The other day on my way to work, I woke up from my morning Paranaque-to-Makati nap to Jose Mari Chan singing my idea of a perfect Christmas, is to spend it with you...
Every morning, I receive a "good morning email" from Char that charts the number of days left 'til Christmas.
This evening, while at SM Bicutan waiting for my mom to pick me up, a very mall-ish version of "Silver Bells" was playing, and I only became aware of it when I was already outside.
It's really amusing how Filipinos take the extra effort to enact these Christmas preparations three months ahead of Christmas. As soon as September comes, it seems as if every family in this country unearths their Christmas decors from their bodegas. Then they start to dust off all the dirt that accumulated due to months of being untouched (this is still a puzzle to me, how items boxed or "tupperwared" and locked in closets and bodegas still manages to get dusty. It's mind boggling!). For my family, this whole process starts on late October or early November. For malls, however, they probably start taking out their soundtracks by the end of August, so they can start playing it by September 1.
Why all the fuss? Why all the excitement over Christmas? The one-day event that half of the world does not bother to prepare for until weeks before December 25. This excitement is probably the question that I am most baffled about. Why in the Philippines?
Though there might be some historical explanation for this, I won't even bother finding out. But there is one explanation that has really made a lot of sense to me, and it has something to do with the state of our society.
Christmas represents a happier time. A happy day. A day that is spent with love and merrymaking despite anyone's financial state. For one reason or another, Christmas makes everybody happy. There may be no ham on the table, but there will be a nochebuena. Game shows on local networks become more generous with their prizes. People gift strangers in appreciation for their services (hello white envelope from Meralco, PLDT, mailman, and the cable company!). There is the gift-giving (and the gift-shopping which is equally as, if not more, fun). There is just no excuse not to spend Christmas properly--with hope, laughter, joy, smiles, and love.
It is during Christmas that people forget their problems. Rivals share a drink or two. Misgivings are forgiven. Christmas isn't just about financial generosity, but more importantly, emotional generosity. For some reason, forgiving is much easier and expressing love feels more natural. Perhaps Christmas is the much-awaited event in this country because it is the only time (apart from New Year's) that we can legitimately forget---
--- the corruption
--- the state of the economy
--- the presidents' "crime"
--- poverty
--- cheating in the bureaucracy
--- rising gasoline prices (okay, so maybe not, but it matters less)
Christmas is anticipated because people long to be happy. People long to tangibly feel and taste happiness. There is that yearning to escape all of life's everyday problems (and the bigger country-wide problems that affect everyday life) and just be in the moment. The preoccupation with Christmas, whether for the preparations, the decorations, or the shopping excursions helps people look beyond their immediate state and anticipate a sure day of happiness.
This is why Christmas should be spent everyday.
--- Because people deserve to be happy everyday.
--- Because people deserve to be "sheltered" from the bigger problems--not necessarily through escape, but through being able to feel safe despite everything that is happening.
--- Because people deserve to guiltlessly hope.
--- Because everybody deserves to feel unconditionally loved.
Apparently, our society has turned into one that only allows these to be felt on one special day.
- Hearing Christmas songs played in National Bookstore and SM malls
- Jose Mari Chan's Christmas songs playing in the radio
- Christmas lights strewn across the trees of malls
- Christmas trees set up on mall foyers
- Parols hung along Ayala Avenue
The other day on my way to work, I woke up from my morning Paranaque-to-Makati nap to Jose Mari Chan singing my idea of a perfect Christmas, is to spend it with you...
Every morning, I receive a "good morning email" from Char that charts the number of days left 'til Christmas.
This evening, while at SM Bicutan waiting for my mom to pick me up, a very mall-ish version of "Silver Bells" was playing, and I only became aware of it when I was already outside.
It's really amusing how Filipinos take the extra effort to enact these Christmas preparations three months ahead of Christmas. As soon as September comes, it seems as if every family in this country unearths their Christmas decors from their bodegas. Then they start to dust off all the dirt that accumulated due to months of being untouched (this is still a puzzle to me, how items boxed or "tupperwared" and locked in closets and bodegas still manages to get dusty. It's mind boggling!). For my family, this whole process starts on late October or early November. For malls, however, they probably start taking out their soundtracks by the end of August, so they can start playing it by September 1.
Why all the fuss? Why all the excitement over Christmas? The one-day event that half of the world does not bother to prepare for until weeks before December 25. This excitement is probably the question that I am most baffled about. Why in the Philippines?
Though there might be some historical explanation for this, I won't even bother finding out. But there is one explanation that has really made a lot of sense to me, and it has something to do with the state of our society.
Christmas represents a happier time. A happy day. A day that is spent with love and merrymaking despite anyone's financial state. For one reason or another, Christmas makes everybody happy. There may be no ham on the table, but there will be a nochebuena. Game shows on local networks become more generous with their prizes. People gift strangers in appreciation for their services (hello white envelope from Meralco, PLDT, mailman, and the cable company!). There is the gift-giving (and the gift-shopping which is equally as, if not more, fun). There is just no excuse not to spend Christmas properly--with hope, laughter, joy, smiles, and love.
It is during Christmas that people forget their problems. Rivals share a drink or two. Misgivings are forgiven. Christmas isn't just about financial generosity, but more importantly, emotional generosity. For some reason, forgiving is much easier and expressing love feels more natural. Perhaps Christmas is the much-awaited event in this country because it is the only time (apart from New Year's) that we can legitimately forget---
--- the corruption
--- the state of the economy
--- the presidents' "crime"
--- poverty
--- cheating in the bureaucracy
--- rising gasoline prices (okay, so maybe not, but it matters less)
Christmas is anticipated because people long to be happy. People long to tangibly feel and taste happiness. There is that yearning to escape all of life's everyday problems (and the bigger country-wide problems that affect everyday life) and just be in the moment. The preoccupation with Christmas, whether for the preparations, the decorations, or the shopping excursions helps people look beyond their immediate state and anticipate a sure day of happiness.
This is why Christmas should be spent everyday.
--- Because people deserve to be happy everyday.
--- Because people deserve to be "sheltered" from the bigger problems--not necessarily through escape, but through being able to feel safe despite everything that is happening.
--- Because people deserve to guiltlessly hope.
--- Because everybody deserves to feel unconditionally loved.
Apparently, our society has turned into one that only allows these to be felt on one special day.
hugs, 
@ 7:41 PM
1 Comments:
At 12:30 PM,
Author said…
yes! we can be happy everyday! we should totally leave the tree out all year round!
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