I argue it's all about semantics, really. So now, just to annoy all the purists, my typical greeting has become:
Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!
I don't know why I take perverse pleasure in that...
In any case. Have a wonderful holiday. I am taking a short break from both writing and blogging (which is just another type of writing, in all honesty) for the Christmas break. You won't hear from me until the 29th.
Just to bring you down from your celebration at my silence, here's one of my favourite Christmas time songs ever:
I remember the first time I heard this song. I was in the back of a Land Rover (or was it a Pajero?) in The Philippines. As I listened to the song, tears just started. Out of nowhere. I looked out the window of the car and tried hard to keep my mourning quiet. My sister turned to me and said, "Sonia, are you crying?"
To which I stupidly replied, "No."
My sister decided to announce it loudly to the whole car. "Mum, Sonia's crying."
"I'm not!" I protested, despite the fact that tears were streaming freely down my cheeks at this point.
Mum turned around from the front seat and looked very concerned. "Sonia! What's the matter, love?"
I sniffed. "The song's sad."
There was a shocked pause before my mother burst into helpless fits of laughter, soon joined by my two older sisters. I was five years old.
I still tear up when I hear this song. Le sigh.
On that note, have a wonderful holiday season. I shall return on the 29th.
4 comments:
I'm with you. That is my all time favourite Christmas song. I think its the cynical pessimist in me. That I see Christmas not as a time for celebration, but as the perfect opportunity to remember just how messed up our world is, and how important it is to take a moment to reflect on this and make positive change. They played Happy Christmas before Midnight Mass this year - it was a rather odd note in the Catholic church to my ear. But certainly a pertinent sentiment today.
I think Christmas is the perfect opportunity to connect with loved ones and laugh.
It is also a good time to reflect and remember, I agree.
I remain hopeful that the world is becoming a better place. It is happening, and it starts with us!
Merry Christmas!
I hope you're right, and the world becomes a better place.
Happy Christmas, Sonia, and a Merry New Year.
Strange that of all people I should be the eternal optimist, but I am. It will get better.
It start with us and the little things we do.
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
- Gandhi
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