Well. Remember that run of posts I had where I rambled on about reconfiguring Christmas as an experience to better serve our personal situations and values?
I had intended to follow up in mid-January with a ‘so how did it work out’ post. Then I got busy so I didn’t.
And I’m still busy now but not so busy I can’t finally get around to this at last. To wit:
How did Christmas work out for you, then, anyway?
Did the consumer stuff get you down and/or dominate your experience?
Did the familial obligations lead to misery?
Or was the consumption under control and the family stuff a joy? Or what?
How was Christmas, this time out?
What, if anything, do you want to change for next year? (Because now is the time to start seeding the notion of change with your loved ones.)
It’s far enough away that we might have some perspective on the whole shebang. And we can start right now figuring out how the next one’s gonna work.
I’m genuinely interested to hear how this Christmas went for anyone out there reading this. Please take a moment and tell me.
My answer is a bit of a cheat, because this Xmas was so random and atypical it’s hard to compare it to anything. Overall it was great, but three Christmases away from home was one too many. I’d always figured on being away from home for two, and probably three, but I knew this Christmas that there was no way I’d miss a fourth. Save me a place at the table, mum and dad…
One thought on “Post Christmas”
Comments are closed.
Christmas this year was, unfortunately, much like the six before it: at work, and when not at work, alone. Christmas is of course not a holiday in Japan, so on Dec 25th itself, I was in yet another interminable meeting at my university.
Ambitious attempts have been made to commercialise Christmas in Japan after the American model, complete with plastic nodding Santas and high-pitched Japanese renditions of “Ludorufu za Ledo-Nosedo Leinderu” in the department stores. Also a certain tradition of especially swanky/romantic Christmas dates has been encouraged in the past decade (judging from the focus of seasonal advertising campaigns). However, New Year’s will continue to mean far more here (both culturally and commercially) for the foreseeable future.
What would I change? Well, basically, I’d get the hell outta here. Realistically that’s another 3 years away though.
Cheers,
Robert.