Christmas.
Hello everyone out there in the WordPress world. Without looking at your calender, I’m sure you can tell me what day it is today…that momentous occasion. That glorious day filled bountifully with joy, laughter, spirit, food, friends, family and, we cannot ever forget, GIFTS. Lots and lots of gifts. Since everyone already knows, today is Christmas and I’d like to take this opportunity to have a little chat.
I’d like to take this moment to question this ideal of gifts…not because I feel spiteful, but because it is a truly troublesome matter. The truth is that there is something truly wrong here with this ideal of gifts. (haha! for all you hardcore V for Vendetta fans out there you’ll notice some parallels with the dialogue here and in the film. Otherwise, omit.)
Sorry, deviating from my poignant reference to great films, I would still like to bring up this question of gifts. Where did it come from? Why is it here? Is it a devious ploy devised by those to exploit the consumerist nature of today?
Where did it come from? Well from what I understand, and again referencing to Christianity, the gift ideal derived from the three wise men (or the three shepherds) who came bearing gifts to be displayed at the feet of infant Jesus the profit born from Mary (And who I cannot possibly be asked to believe that she was a virgin). All in all, somehow it was melded and warped throughout the ages to the point where we now see it as the exchange of gifts among our friends as the Magi presented gifts among the saviour of man.
So, I do not dispute that truth in anyway (for it is true whether we believe it or not) but I question the nature of gift giving in our time today. I watch commercials on the glorious television box that display a man secretly hanging a set of diamond earrings on a tree for his wife to find and when she does, she gives the man a kiss, cuing the line “Every kiss begins with kay….” Then I flip to another channel and I see a man talking to his son about some rhetorical christmas-y bullshit as he attaches a huge bow on a brand new, 2008 Lexus GS350. His wife proceeds to come out and smiles at the new car, leading us to believe that the car was a gift for her.
Take a look at those examples and tell me that there is something wrong. There is something deeply wrong in our culture today when we leap the bounds of necessity for the world of extravagance, gluttony, and over indulgence. Then, tell me that you agree with me, and I will tell you that you are a liar. Wow, so much for agreeing with me huh? The fact is that, again on my attack on societal truths, we are all corrupted and morally demeaned by the Societal truths that we have lost sight of the truth of Christmas. To us, the truth is now Plasma screen tv’s priced at nearly $3000, Electric guitars worth $500, Ipod Touch’s priced at nearly $300, and Brand New Cars worth $40,000. We are not in the bounds of Christmas truths anymore, but now we are encompassed in the Consumer’s Cultural truths.
I remember looking at paintings of Santa Claus bearing gifts of necessities: Pens, parchment and quills, a new sewing set, a fixed roof, hot pies, delicious jams, blankets for the cold nights, candy canes, even a candle holder! Yet I have NEVER seen a painting where Santa Claus drops of Ipod nanos and flat screen tv’s.
Have we lost sight of Christmas? Yes.
So, if you are all knowing, what is the Christmas Truth?
Its hard to answer that because Christmas means many things for many people. To me, it means family. Nothing more and nothing less. In my youth I have taken for granted this idea of family and forsook it for the consumer culture. Now I, being all old and shit, realized that is not so anymore. The greatest gift that any Magi or Santa Claus can give is humanity. The bond that man has created with one another: Love, Friendship, Respect, Loyalty, Piety, Reverence, whatever you can incorporate the idea of human bonding to. I share love with my family. I share respect, loyalty, and friendship to my friends. The best gift in return? The same back to me. Sure gifts are nice, but they should be secondary to the compassion and bonding that is shared amongst the collective community that is humanity.
I got a cookbook from Suzan which I find incredibly thoughtful and worth 10,000 times more to me than any flat screen tv, guitar, or ipod nano on the market. I got a tin of delicious waffers from my aunt that is worth 10,000 times more to me than any nintendo Wii or Playstation 3 ever could. I got a lump of coal and some cookies from Santa Claus and that is worth more to me than any brand new cutting edge computer on the market (no joke either, I have a lump of coal and I ate these cookies that were fucking fantastic…no stores were open so I will rule out any possibilities that my parents or anyone got it for me other than Santa Claus. Don’t even try to contest.)
Thoughts and ideas, everyone. Christmas is about family and good times. What did I want for Christmas? Nothing. I think it is strange of me to say something like that. Of course there are things I want. Above all I want a Leica MP worth around $4000. Secondary to that I want a Voigtlander Bessa R3a priced around $500. Sure I can get those when I get a job or what not, but what did I really want for Christmas? I asked myself that a couple of times the night of Christmas when it struck 12…but I couldn’t bring myself to tell what I wanted…because truth is I didn’t want anything material. Everything that I needed, I already have: Family, friends, loved ones, respect, honesty, art, beauty, and the eye to see things differently. Although I can vouch to say that someone to Love (besides family) would be great as well. ;D
Anyway, that is all I have to say about Christmas. It becomes useless sometimes to be a voice that no one will listen to due to Social Conventions telling everyone to block out the words of the opposing side. But I say it to fortify my beliefs in my truths that there is something truly wrong with Christmas these days. I guess it is and will always be wrong.
I hope you’re Christmas was not filled with gluttony, over indulgence, and extravagance and that the only thing you received was the pure truth that you have friends and family that love, respect, are compassionate and loyal to you.
Oh and if you did receive some extravagant presents for Christmas, I would like to ask you: Did you deserve what you received? Did you do something so worthy that you received such an expensive gift? I’ll leave it at that for you to decide if you are worthy enough.
Cheers from cold as hell Milpitas.
