Some people view Christmas with a strictly religious point of view, while others (most people) view it as a commercialized season of money spending and overcrowded shopping malls. Call me naive, but I'm still astounded to see Plaza Las Americas so overwhelmingly full that it causes traffic congestion on the freeway at 9pm. In my first year of college I worked at the mall, but I do not recall it ever being like this in the Christmas season. This situation seems like a phenomenon, considering that the so-called recession has done little to slow down the insane number of people launching themselves into the unpredictable wilderness that is a commercial center in the last days of the year.
I still recall what Christmas felt like to me when I was a child. Counting the months left till December, I anxiously awaited the arrival of the season. My siblings and I would count the days leading up to December 25th and we even made little lists for Santa Claus in which we detailed what we wanted as gifts. With a total of five children in my house, I'm surprised we never caught our parents setting gifts up. We were a pack of conspirators, even going so far as to wake up our poor mother one Christmas morning around 4am, demanding to know why Santa Claus had not yet arrived. The magic of Christmas morning - there is no honest way to describe what it felt like, but of course you must have your own recollections of how it was for you. I vividly recall one year when my father asked me what I wanted for Christmas, thereby forfeiting the possibility of Santa Claus' existence. The magic began to recede right then and there.
Nowadays, I still regard the holiday season as a special time, while I inevitably feel nostalgia for those years when my older sisters would shake me out of bed just as the sun was rising and we'd run to the living room with uncontrollable joy and anticipation. I still find myself chasing the magic that was once there. Now and then I manage to catch a small glimpse of how I felt while I stare at my Christmas tree, as if someone pulled back the curtain for only an instant. I suppose I'll continue to chase the magic for the rest of my life, occasionally coming across something similar to the way a child feels on Christmas morning - a feeling that is unequaled in every way imaginable.
I still recall what Christmas felt like to me when I was a child. Counting the months left till December, I anxiously awaited the arrival of the season. My siblings and I would count the days leading up to December 25th and we even made little lists for Santa Claus in which we detailed what we wanted as gifts. With a total of five children in my house, I'm surprised we never caught our parents setting gifts up. We were a pack of conspirators, even going so far as to wake up our poor mother one Christmas morning around 4am, demanding to know why Santa Claus had not yet arrived. The magic of Christmas morning - there is no honest way to describe what it felt like, but of course you must have your own recollections of how it was for you. I vividly recall one year when my father asked me what I wanted for Christmas, thereby forfeiting the possibility of Santa Claus' existence. The magic began to recede right then and there.
Nowadays, I still regard the holiday season as a special time, while I inevitably feel nostalgia for those years when my older sisters would shake me out of bed just as the sun was rising and we'd run to the living room with uncontrollable joy and anticipation. I still find myself chasing the magic that was once there. Now and then I manage to catch a small glimpse of how I felt while I stare at my Christmas tree, as if someone pulled back the curtain for only an instant. I suppose I'll continue to chase the magic for the rest of my life, occasionally coming across something similar to the way a child feels on Christmas morning - a feeling that is unequaled in every way imaginable.
1 comment:
I felt the same way this Christmas season! Thanks for verbalizing it
Post a Comment