With December coming to a close and Christmas right around the corner, many feel the happiest they have all year... or do they?
The "holly jolly" feelings of Christmas just aren't the same as they used to be. During this time, you're supposed to be excited and giddy and Christmas shopping for everyone you know. The "season of giving," seeing your family members whom you haven't seen since the year before. But just how many families still get together with everyone? There's Mom's side and Dad's side and Step-Dad's side and your daughter's husband's side and blah blah blah the list goes on and on. With the passing years, the original family, well, gets smaller. Your kids have their own families now. You may have noticed get-togethers don't happen like they used to; like when Grandma was around.
Grandma cooked her 70 year old Sweet Potato Casserole recipe; made the pies. Gifts galore. So many presents. For you, for your children, your new babies, the dogs, your fish. It was also colder back then. Snow in Decemeber.
It's, what, 72 degrees F° outside right now? Christmas is less than a week away and you don't even know what the plans are. Is it that we are tired? Do we care anymore? Have we gotten more depressed? Working our ☆essential☆ retail jobs. Sucks the life right out of "holly jolly." We just want to sleep. Do nothing. Go no where. Talk to no one. I mean we have to talk all day, anyway. "What's new?" They ask, "...well, I got yelled at today because we were out of tree lights." And... that's it. That's my news. What about you? I slept until 6pm today. Nothing else to do. I go right back to work to do it all over again. My store isn't even playing Christmas music this year.
What makes a holiday season "holly jolly" is the people. When you're around people for your job, the holiday never stops. When you see the decorations every day for 9 to 10 hours, the holidays not only never even started, but it never actually ends. It doesn't end because throughout the year, trickles of holiday find its way on the shelves. Tonight on the truck we got halloween pajamas. I've backstocked 11 boxes of flip-flops. It's December. See, working in retail- time does not exist. It's only time start and time end, come home to sleep, then go back to do it all over again. Is there ever an end? A beginning? A purpose? I guess I need a roof over my head.
You know what. I'm alive. What does that mean, exactly? Don't get me started on "purpose." No one knows what that is so no need to talk about it. But you know what? I'm married. Very happily married. I found my soul mate. Those do exist, after all. I'm a firm believer. If you can't say you know they exist then that means you haven't found yours yet. Give it time. You'll know.
We have our own house, well, renting. It's still ours. We live here. It's cute. We decided on having two Christmas trees this year. Fake ones. Inflation made trees $99.99 so that's a no. Ridiculous. I get it, but no. My husband became an uncle this year! I an Aunt. That's awesome. You know what? Life is what you make it. How you form it. What you decide to do with it. You really can do whatever the hell you want. It just takes time. And sometimes, you run out of time because you have to go to work the next day.
Perhaps the "holly jolly" doesn't come from a store... perhaps... it comes from a little bit more.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Amanda
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