Happy Holidays! May You Have a Joyous and Sacred Time with Your Loved Ones

What’s that sound? Do you hear it too?

It’s finally here. ‘Tis the Season!

Now it’s time to enjoy ourselves indoors and outdoors. Depends on what you fancy more. This time shall pass, and quickly too. So, let’s make the most of it.

Late December and early Jan have always been a lovely time, especially with a Joyous Advent, following those mesmerizing weeks we relish through October’s fall.

Crisp autumn leaves, accompanied by fresh, cool air, and the beginning of the shopping season and celebrations – all make for a wonderous time in the run-up to an energetic November with Thanksgiving and more shopping, and eventually Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Festivus, and New Year.

Yes, you read that right; Festivus.

Choose anything you like from any of these exciting feasts or enjoy them all in the northern hemisphere’s cold. They each tend to last at least a week if not more, with some of them overlapping.

So, there’s lots to do. Even at Festivus. And can you believe that it is now being celebrated for real? Isn’t that cool?

Quite literally, this time is for everyone to enjoy; even those who don’t want to spend a penny to do so.

For those who aren’t acquainted with what Festivus is; it is a feast marked with simplicity meant to demonstrate disillusionment with commercialism that’s largely associated with other feasts.

The idea of Festivus seemed to have been popularly revived in the 1990s on Seinfeld, the all-time hit television comedy series. The mention of this feast was perhaps meant to be a joke. Who knew it would be taken this seriously!

However, its initial mention was in 1966, when the O’Keefe family celebrated Festivus. So, there’s some history there.

So, with Festivus taking off as a mainstream festival ever-so-slowly, with sufficient popularity for it to be mentioned in quite a few places means that it may not remain true to its original purpose; it seems almost bound to at least be commercialized in terms of aluminum pole sales, for that is its tangible symbol of simplicity.

While that is the case, it stands far from the fictional practices alluded to Festivus such as the airing or grievances and a family brawl challenging the head of a family. Quite a quirky and humorous aspect to it, but these were only mentioned on Seinfeld.

Ok, so; this post was not supposed to be any feast in particular, but that’s how tempting this relatively new and unconventional celebration has attracted some of us who love to observe and appreciate all big days.

The rest of the celebrations and periods of observation I have mentioned are well-known, and each of them stirs delight in us. The Christmas season in particular, being a transitory period from one year to the next, coinciding with the New Year, evokes epic symbolism of an opportunity to start afresh.

So, apart from just being a plain observer, it’s always fun to delve into the thick of things when it comes to outdoor entertainment or merrymaking. This may entail anything from bobsledding to jolly snowball combat. But it doesn’t snow everywhere, does it? What do we do if there’s no snow?

Some of us indulge in bonfires. Now that’s something to enjoy. In fact, people light up their backyards or some suitable spot outdoors night after night when they want to enjoy the cold yet experience some warmth.

I have to tell you; there’s probably no better time for you to share tales and do some catching up during these lovely holidays. So, make the most of it.

Apart from the outdoor jollification where you will likely have tremendous moments to savor, you can do the same indoors. With the incredibly busy lives we lead, there is so much we can share with our near and dear ones.

And it’s just for a few days. One moment you’ll be having a wonderful time, and it slips by you ever-so-quickly that it feels those moments passed in a few fleeting seconds, only to live on as a cherished memory.

That kind of sounds sad – so let’s digress from this immediately since this is definitely not a time to indulge in that sort of thing. What we do need is to realize and celebrate the value of family and friends many of whom we’ve most likely been eagerly waiting to meet since long time.

Once it’s January, it will be over. We’ll be back to work in full swing before we know it. So, while there’s still time, you must enjoy the year’s most exciting time moving into the mid and latter part of December.

Some of us will struggle to finish up important work before the holidays. But we’ll catch up.

As for those of you fortunate enough to wind up your work early enough, Happy Holidays!