Bah humbug, pass the tinsel.
Many apologies for the wait between posts, unfortunately I slipped a disc in my lower back and, well, lets just say ouch!
Back to the real world. I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween (hate it), for all the Brits enjoy Bonfire night (hate it) and, thanks to all the shops, lets enjoy the countdown to Christmas (wait for it....LOVE IT). No seriously, without doubt my favourite time of the year. What's not to love? Ignore the commercial pressures, make it about family and friends, enjoy the food and drink, get giddy at the first snowflake and just go for it.
Now, dear reader, this was not always the case. I, along with millions of others, used to have to work over Christmas, including Christmas day. Now I didn't actually mind that. Sure I used to miss out on some nights out, but on the whole working over the Christmas period was quite enjoyable. I did miss having a slap up dinner with loved ones, but when you're youngish and single you can take that hit so long as you are financially compensated (and I was). What I didn't get when I was without a wife and a couple of little ones was Christmas spirit.
Christmas spirit, I discovered, cannot be bought. Christmas spirit cannot be manufactured. Christmas spirit cannot be forced upon you or on anyone else. But once you taste it, once you let it wash over your body like a gift set shower gel, you never forget it and you never let it go. There is a moment, it could be a song, a TV programme, a movie or even a shopping trip, but a moment when, without even thinking, something happens. Without being slushy, it's magical. You buzz, you tingle, you have a sense of excitement and you're not quite sure why. You realise it's not about one day. You realise that Christmas begins when you want it to and doesn't have to end after Boxing day.
Now I'm not daft. I understand many people will just read that with a sense of "whatever" but let me explain. I used to get hung up with the commercial side of Christmas. How much would I spend, would it be enough, would people think me cheap, would they spend enough on me, what if nobody bought me anything, did nobody like me and on and on and on I'd go. I'd ignore the tacky decorations, block out the ridiculous music, snigger at the pathetic jumpers and only concentrate on money. This didn't stop even when I got married. I'd judge our relationship on the value of the gifts, I reluctantly put up the tree a couple of days prior to the 25th and quite frankly was full to the brim of bah humbug. When number one girl child was born, it was about the quantity of presents not quality and my gosh did the house soon fill up with tat. Then I had my moment.
I don't know where, when, how or why but I had it. My moment. Dear reader, my world instantly became a better place. The tackiness of my decorations is only outdone by my jumper. The tree is up on the first weekend of December, the music blares out constantly and I love it. I don't have a Christmas list, let Santa brings whatever he feels I deserve, my wonderful wife is overjoyed at whatever we receive and my kids don't care how many gifts are under the tree. Christmas movies are some of the best ever made and who the heck doesn't love a countdown list at 11 o'clock on a Wednesday night.
My moment let me embrace the festive season. Not a friend or family member leaves Castle House Life without a smile on their face and a happy, warming memory, not a day over the season to be jolly goes by without me feeling jolly and I realise that my Christmas spirit can be infectious. Once I had my moment I just let myself go. Now I may have a bad back but my spirit is in festive form and I don't care. Bah humbug no more, pass me the tinsel.
Back to the real world. I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween (hate it), for all the Brits enjoy Bonfire night (hate it) and, thanks to all the shops, lets enjoy the countdown to Christmas (wait for it....LOVE IT). No seriously, without doubt my favourite time of the year. What's not to love? Ignore the commercial pressures, make it about family and friends, enjoy the food and drink, get giddy at the first snowflake and just go for it.
Now, dear reader, this was not always the case. I, along with millions of others, used to have to work over Christmas, including Christmas day. Now I didn't actually mind that. Sure I used to miss out on some nights out, but on the whole working over the Christmas period was quite enjoyable. I did miss having a slap up dinner with loved ones, but when you're youngish and single you can take that hit so long as you are financially compensated (and I was). What I didn't get when I was without a wife and a couple of little ones was Christmas spirit.
Christmas spirit, I discovered, cannot be bought. Christmas spirit cannot be manufactured. Christmas spirit cannot be forced upon you or on anyone else. But once you taste it, once you let it wash over your body like a gift set shower gel, you never forget it and you never let it go. There is a moment, it could be a song, a TV programme, a movie or even a shopping trip, but a moment when, without even thinking, something happens. Without being slushy, it's magical. You buzz, you tingle, you have a sense of excitement and you're not quite sure why. You realise it's not about one day. You realise that Christmas begins when you want it to and doesn't have to end after Boxing day.
Now I'm not daft. I understand many people will just read that with a sense of "whatever" but let me explain. I used to get hung up with the commercial side of Christmas. How much would I spend, would it be enough, would people think me cheap, would they spend enough on me, what if nobody bought me anything, did nobody like me and on and on and on I'd go. I'd ignore the tacky decorations, block out the ridiculous music, snigger at the pathetic jumpers and only concentrate on money. This didn't stop even when I got married. I'd judge our relationship on the value of the gifts, I reluctantly put up the tree a couple of days prior to the 25th and quite frankly was full to the brim of bah humbug. When number one girl child was born, it was about the quantity of presents not quality and my gosh did the house soon fill up with tat. Then I had my moment.
I don't know where, when, how or why but I had it. My moment. Dear reader, my world instantly became a better place. The tackiness of my decorations is only outdone by my jumper. The tree is up on the first weekend of December, the music blares out constantly and I love it. I don't have a Christmas list, let Santa brings whatever he feels I deserve, my wonderful wife is overjoyed at whatever we receive and my kids don't care how many gifts are under the tree. Christmas movies are some of the best ever made and who the heck doesn't love a countdown list at 11 o'clock on a Wednesday night.
My moment let me embrace the festive season. Not a friend or family member leaves Castle House Life without a smile on their face and a happy, warming memory, not a day over the season to be jolly goes by without me feeling jolly and I realise that my Christmas spirit can be infectious. Once I had my moment I just let myself go. Now I may have a bad back but my spirit is in festive form and I don't care. Bah humbug no more, pass me the tinsel.
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