But he ever so kindly obliged, and I said goodbye to everyone in the morning and drove out to Grande Prairie to do a little bit of shopping and to enjoy some time to myself. On the way, i listened and sang along (uninterrupted!!!) to a nice long playlist of Christmas songs, planning my Christmas shopping and crafting, anticipating Michael's craft store (it's always Christmas there!!), and wishing there were more stores i could go to to shop for Christmas.
Yes, i'm aware it's only september.
And there's two more holidays between now and Christmas.
My excuses for starting so early were all the sewing and crafts i intend to do, and preparations for the new baby coming so close to Christmas. But there's something else too. I've decided that i just don't like Halloween. And thanksgiving is awesome, if you have people to spend it with. If not, it's just not as big a deal.
I used to LOVE Halloween as a kid - I think it was mostly because of the candy, and the parties, and the costumes (i STILL love to play dress-up!). These days we don't have/get invited to parties, our kids are too young to really care about the trick-or-treating (besides, there's a high percentage of creepers in this town, who put nasty stuff in halloween candy). But even as a kid, there were things i just didn't like about the whole holiday. I have nothing against costumes and cutesy pumpkins and black cats and scarecrows. What i really dislike are the ugly things. The blood, the severed limbs, the disfigured monsters. When i was a kid, halloween was fun and cute - and yes, sometimes we'd go to haunted houses, because sometimes it's fun to be scared (i blame that little thing called "adrenaline"). But as an adult, i appreciate less and less the focus on death, blood, monsters, murder, and fear. It just makes me feel ugly and uncomfortable.
In stark contrast, Christmas is a celebration of the complete opposite - the birth of Jesus Christ, who through his life and death brought us new life. It is a time of love, peace, joy, hope, and generosity. Some people "hate" Christmas because it's so commercial, so expensive, so greedy! And granted, some people are that way. And when that's what they're focusing on, it's not surprising that Christmas = stress for them.
There are some things - some kinds of music, pictures, objects, colors, sounds, smells - that speak to us each individually in a very special way. They symbolize something important to us, and can even spark our emotions. Some things move us more deeply than others, touching and enlarging our very souls. This is what Christmas does to me. And really, EVERYTHING about Christmas! Eating a mandarin orange on a cold day, decorations, the sounds of jingle bells, seeing red and green together, making or buying those few gifts and imagining the children enjoying them, writing wish lists for the kids and hubby, or writing my list for all the baking I'll be doing! The list is unending. These things just make me happy. I can't fully explain it, other than being touched by the spirit of Christmas, which is really the Spirit of Christ.
Christmas music, especially those that speak of the birth or life of Christ, directly or symbolically, or even simply mention the name of God or Christ, touches me so deeply that words can't suffice. Such joy, such peace, such comfort. I feel as if I am filled with every happy feeling ever created. And i like feeling happy.
And certainly, Christ would have made it that way - that the time of year in which we celebrate his birth would be filled with his Spirit, with everything that he was, and is, and so we can try to be more like him, to emulate the example he set for us as he encouraged all to do.
So while i don't boycott halloween, and still participate in the festivities, you may find that my focus and excitement is much less pronounced.
Please forgive me. My mind is elsewhere...
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