...is singing loud for all to hear.
I was dared by a friend to sing a song and post it to YouTube. I like to sing, but I never sing solos in front of ANYONE. In my choir days (that seem like they were a long time ago, but actually really weren't) it was nerve-wracking, but easy enough to get over when it means the difference between pass and fail. Anywho, this is something different than I've ever done before. So, while you read the rest of my Christmas blog post, I give you the Little Drummer Boy. Nothing fancy. Just me, my guitar, and a practice room.
This year, Christmas has felt quite different to me. It's my first year away from my family for a good portion of the season. I wasn't there with them to decorate, put up the tree, go to the family/ward Christmas party, I haven't watched with anticipation, the growing pile of gifts beneath our tree, etc. It's so strange. In our apartment, we have:
a Christmas tree,
a snowflake filled/light covered window,
a popcorn garland,
and even snowflakes!!
We listen to Christmas music sometimes, eat Christmas treats, watch Christmas movies, we really are pretty festive. But, it is all very different than being at home. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas." A song which, by the way, I used to hate and now resist the urge to tear up each time I hear. But let me tell you what I've learned and what has actually been very nice.
1. Making Christmas Gifts is so easy when you don't have to worry about someone accidentally walking in and discovering your secret.
Being a college student who lives in a college town where it's hard to get work, trying to find money to spend on Christmas presents is a little tough. I keep to a very strict budget. I have enough money for necessities, and an emergency fund in case something goes wrong. I'm kind of a tight wad, is what I'm really trying to say. However, I LOVE Christmas, and I wanted to do something special for each member of my family. So...I decided to make homemade gifts for everyone! Each required time, energy, and a certain amount of spreading out (I didn't want to give them things that looked tacky and homemade, they needed to look nice and show true thought). It was incredibly nice to have not even a sliver of risk in making the gifts! NO ONE could possibly walk in on me who wasn't supposed to. How's that for gifter/gifted confidentiality?
2. Christmas is all the sweeter knowing I've had to wait to participate with my family in the plans, the prep, the excitement.
It is so weird planning for a holiday like CHRISTMAS without my family. I've waited, decorated, anticipated without them. I haven't figured out how I feel about it one way or the other yet, but I know it's been fun in a different way than it used to be. I'm here, far from home, with this new kind of family unit within my apartment and complex. I speak with friends in my student ward about making plans to travel home, what gifts they're giving their families, what kind of service we're going to do that week for others, etc. In my apartment we've had conversations about family traditions. Lot's of conversations start with, "In my family we do this and this and this for Christmas, wanna do that here?" In the complex, there are wreaths on the light poles and buildings. In the common areas (lounge, laundromat) there are paper chains, Christmas trees, paper snowflakes, ornaments, posters. It's a full on Winter Wonderland!
3. The true meaning of Christmas remains the same no matter where I'm celebrating.
Recently there's been a lot of talk about being less discriminatory with this "Holiday Season." I'm sorry, but Christmas has been Christmas for years and years and years. No one ever had a problem before! Hanukkah has always been Hanukkah, Kwanzaa has always been Kwanzaa. We have Holidays this time of year. Some are religious, some are cultural, some are both. I don't know who decided we need to stop calling it a Christmas Tree, but whoever it was needs to just stop. **Soapbox over.** I am LDS (a Mormon). I celebrate Christmas because Christ was born 2000+ years ago. He was born in a humble stable and laid in a manger. Shepherds bore witness of the blessed event. Three wisemen came to glorify Him with gifts. A choir of angels proclaimed His birth. The world was changed forever. This is why I celebrate. This is why I want to be with my family this season. I want to celebrate, with them, that blessed event. I want to bare witness just like the shepherds did, with the miracles I witness and the words I speak. I want to glorify my Father in Heaven and the Savior Jesus Christ just as the wisemen did, with gifts of service and gifts or temporal worth. I want to proclaim the birth of Jesus Christ just as the angels did, with singing and celebration. That is the spirit of the season and that is what Christmas is all about.
In case I don't get another post in before I move and head off for Holiday, here's wishing you and yours the Merriest of Christmases and a very Happy Holiday Season. May it be spent with the people who matter most to you.
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