HallowThanksChritmas

        It has already started.
        The day after Halloween, a radio station started playing Christmas music, twenty-four-seven. Retail giants like Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop, and Home Depot have got their Christmas merchandise out on the shelves. Television commercials, bestowing the almighty glory of spending, are ramping up the hype. They deliver us from the evil of the economy and to the temptation of buying somebody a diamond ring. Make sure you give it to them while its snowing.
        Some people hate this premature cultural barrage of Christmas.
        I am NOT one of those people.
        I love it.
        And not because I approve of the commercialization of Christmas. In fact, I don’t even look at all of the hype that way. It’s not commercialization. It’s celebration. That’s honestly how it feels to me. It really is just a simple matter of perspective.
        It has everything to do with what I bring to the experience. Not what the experience brings to me.
        Christmas is about getting together with people I love. So when I see a television commercial where people greet each other at a holiday party, even if it’s an advertisement for a tire company, what I respond to is the joy of the gathering. I completely focus on that because it makes me feel good. I can’t for the life of me remember what tire they’re hocking.
        Christmas is about bright, colorful lights and beautiful decorations. So when I see all the retail stores displaying their holiday wares, even in early November, I just get excited. I don’t care how far away the day is. I can start looking at all this bright, shiny, sparkly, beautiful stuff NOW. And I can keep looking at it. For months. How cool is that?
        Christmas is about shopping at all the malls and stores that are decorated and lit to the nines, playing a never ending stream of holiday music, as you search out a gift for somebody you really care about. The crowds don’t bother me. The more the merrier. It’s just plain fun to be part of all that mayhem.
        When it comes right down to it, Christmas is about love. So when I hear a holiday song, even if it’s two months before the holiday itself, I feel love. I feel warmth. Happiness. Joy. Peace. How can that be bad?
        The expression on a person’s face, and the warmth I feel from them on Christmas eve or Christmas morning, positively DOES IT for me. Every time. Every year. Every person. Without exception.
        Then there’s Thanksgiving. It could appear that all the Christmas hype absolutely steamrolls over our national day of gratitude. I love Thanksgiving too. So what I do, conceptually at least, is just sort of combine it with Christmas and make it a massive, two month celebration. ThanksChristmas. It starts the day after Halloween and ends on December 26.
        In fact, since I love Halloween so much too, I could combine all three into one big holiday and call it HallowThanksChristmas. That’s how the whole holiday season feels to me. I absolutely love this time of year. A two month celebration of joy. Bright lights. Gifts. Love. Costumes. Shiny things. Food. People. Life.
        I realize that I’m probably in the minority here, but what else is new. I know, however, that there are more out there like me. More people who find all this holiday hullabaloo fun and uplifting and exciting and joyful. Kindred souls who look past the hype, and focus on the message. Merrymakers who look inside, and see what’s real.
        Let me know you’re out there, Two Month Holiday Revelers. If not, I’m still going to feel the same way. But it would be so much more fun if you joined me.

© 2008 Clint Piatelli. All Rights (and a Positively Festive Amount of Wrongs) Reserved.

Comments

[asven]

i loooove this... at first when i started to read it i was thinking negatively about i hate when "they" rush the holidays. i dont like the commercialism, the pressure to make a kodak moment. but, as you have reminded me, i do love the love, the sharing, the sparkle, the celebration and the joy. i absolutely and thoroughly do love it. and you nailed it, clint.

so thank you. you have opened a window for me to look past the commercial push and allow the love and celebration to dominate the season. im grateful. lets celebrate!!!!

[Clint Piatelli]

Yes. Let's!

[er-eee-kaaaaa]

Thanks for posting video of me on youtube at the rad halloween party at the purple house. Fun. I love being on camera. Happy Christmakwanzahanukkah.