Happy Holidays

Hmmm.  Happy Holidays.  This is something I tend to write, or speak, rather than Merry Christmas.  I was at the bookstore last night & overheard a girl tell her friend "it offends me when people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas".  Offends?  Really?  Wow.  I'd imagine there is a whole list of other things that offends this person in life.

I think that if anyone takes the time to acknowledge that there is a holiday approaching, or that you are in the midst of, & they include you in their good wishes, you should just say thank you and appreciate that there are people still in the world who would stop & offer a stranger a kind word.

Perhaps the words Merry Christmas hold a bad memory for a person, or they are not celebrating Jesus' birthday, or maybe the holidays might truly suck for a person but they are bringing up all that they can muster to not appear that this may be the hardest week in their year.  No one knows what any other person is truly dealing with.  One of the most impressive, & deceiving, things that us human beings wear is a smile.  It is truly one of the most concealing things that we own.

My point is, just give people a break.  Life is short, & there are enough people that will be rude to you or ignore you. Cherish the moments when a stranger takes the time to treat you like a human being despite their own feelings or situation.

And then try to do the same for someone else.

Surviving the Holidays

Just a quick note on the subject of the holidays.  I'm hearing a lot of "how to survive the holidays" stuff lately.  I find it really sad & unfortunate that "Christmas" has turned into such a beast for so many people.  The overdose of consumerism is choking a lot of people to death.  Society as a whole has put a lot of pressure on the "success" of holidays not only by the financial bottom line but also by the state of relationships in your life.

Every year it seems that people I talk to, & people that I know, are feeling more & more like they would just like the holidays to go by quietly.  Bordering on depression, feeling inadequate that their lives are not picture perfect.  What does it say about the state of a large part of the population that family dinners need to be survived & folks feel that they need to nearly bankrupt themselves in order to buy endless amounts of useless junk for other folks who really could live without it.  It's amazing how disconnected people are becoming in a time where every where you turn there is a way to connect to someone.  It just seems that connecting with the people who are sitting next to you has fallen low on the list of priorities.

We should all make a little more effort to be kinder, more patient, more expressive & understanding to those people who are in our "real" lives.  I'm not a statutory holiday kinda girl, but when those who are close to me feel safe, loved & happy & I can smile knowing that time has been well spent;  that is worth celebrating.  Any day of the year.