Eggnog
So this is Christmas. This is probably the first year ever that I haven’t found my Christmas Spirit. I have been thinking about it and trying to figure out where it so I can go find it.
Here’s the deal, I’m not a Christian, I grew up celebrating Christmas because my Dad is Catholic, so for me the holiday always meant family more than anything. I have respect for the holiday itself, and what it signifies to those who believe. Generally my Christmas spirit comes to me by the first of December. I was a little worried when it didn’t show up, but had high hopes there was still time. The days went on, the shopping didn’t get done, the lights didn’t go up, the cookies didn’t get baked, and I’m wondering what the heck is wrong with me. I acknowledge that my Christmas spirit definitely has waned since my Mom passed away, but it has still always come… until this year. So I sit and I think and I wonder what it could be.
Really nothing has changed, sure I’m a bit busier, I have had a cold, I’ve been tired, but here’s the the discovery that I have made. I am so saddened by what this HOLYday has become. Yes, I said it, it is supposed to be a Holy Day. What has happened to us? I see so many posts about people being pissed off because they can’t say Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays and their so worried about this and that. That it’s their country and they shouldn’t have to worry about offending anyone so they should be able to say Merry Christmas, and people should have respect and only say Happy Holidays. I am SO tired of this crap! Say whatever the hell you want to say, and stop complaining about it and hating on the people who don’t celebrate your chosen holiday, whatever holiday that may be (if you even celebrate a holiday).
We spend so much time harping on how much we disagree with another’s religion or political beliefs that we have completely screwed this holiday season up. We spend more time posting about how upset we are because we couldn’t get the gifts we wanted to get. In the meantime, because we have forgotten what this holiday is truly about, and we are a country who can’t go a day without shopping, that all the stores are advertising they are open on Christmas. Like this is a good thing? The almighty dollar has become more important than our celebration of this day or the time that we could be spending with our families.
I am truly saddened by what we have come to. I say it often, but am feeling it so much during this holiday season that it hurts. Our troops are STILL across the world fighting, there are STILL people who have no homes and no food, there are STILL people dying of Cancer and of AIDs, there are STILL people dying at the hands of their husbands, their wives, and their parents, and all we can think about is how offended we are about not being allowed to offend other people? For the love of G-d, be grateful and feel blessed if that is truly the biggest thing you have to worry about. Do you even know how blessed you are?
Tonight, as I write this, I pray that one day each of us can see beyond our difference and love others through them. Tonight, as I write this, I pull my Christmas spirit out of a box and thank God that I am blessed enough to be able to spend tomorrow with my loved ones, blessed enough to have a hearty meal to share, blessed enough to be loved by my family because I am different. Tonight, as I write this, I look up to heaven and say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to my mother.
Tonight, as I write this, I pray for each of you to have a blessed day, regardless of your beliefs or traditions.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever floats your boat.
Blessings.
Nutmeg
Yes November is here, bring on the Holidays. The Holidays bring back so many things with them right? The flavors of fall and winter, which I am SO not a fan of, memories of family and traditions, the spirit of the holidays. Gratitude often gleams starting in November when people begin to post what they are grateful for, then the excitement of Black Friday…. or the Angst of Black Friday if you are someone like me. Then comes December preparing for Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. (Granted the Christmas stuff came out in September this year, so some are way ahead of others).
This is where it all begins, the commercials about toys and video games. All the stores offering Lay-away again because 9.1% of our country is unemployed, while probably closer to 50% are barely covering their living expenses. No one wants to disappoint the kids, so they hit the sales on the craziest day of the year, only to trample other people or the be one trampled for a toy or game that will be out-dated within 6 months. You hit a store for your basic staples only to be pushed because people are in a rush, and angry that they are in a rush, and you check out with the cashier who clearly hates their job and just wants to yell at you for some reason. Then you have the retail reps who have to say Happy Holidays, because God forbid they tell the wrong person Merry Christmas and get yelled at by that person, when really truly they are just trying to be in the spirit of the holidays.
What the hell has happened to our country. Every day you hear more and more people saying how pissed off they are because kids can’t pray in school or say anything about God, yet some of those people are the very one’s who have clearly forgotten what Christmas is about or any other Holiday is about.
Before I go further, quick background. While I was not raised with religion growing up, culturally speaking I’m Jewish. We celebrated Christmas because my Dad is Catholic. If you ask me what my religion is I will tell you that I am against organized religion, but I’m more Jewish than anything mostly because I guess I don’t consider Jesus as my savior. (Oh boy this blog could cause some major controversy) That being said, when I walk into a store, meet a stranger on the street, a friend or a co-worker I am happy to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Blessed Kwanzaa. More importantly, when I go somewhere and someone actually takes the time to greet me with any of the above, I’m HAPPY just to be greeted. I don’t care how they say it. As a Jewish person, how could I possibly be offended by someone wishing me a Merry Christmas? In today’s age when people can’t even take the time to say “Thank You” when you hold the door open, I am beyond grateful to take what I can get.
Now, back to the issue at hand. Whatever “religion” you claim to be, if you are going to claim that “religion” passionately let’s remember what these holidays are about. Christmas = the “day” Jesus was born. Hello? This is your Lord and Savior and you’re more focused on tackling people in the mall for a tickle me elmo? It’s Jesus’ birthday! CELEBRATE!! Hanukkah = the celebration of the dedication of the temple and the miracle of one day’s worth purifying oil lasted 8 days. Kwanzaa = a weeklong celebration held to honor African-American heritage and culture. Oh look, another celebration!
So the question is this, how can SO many celebrations cause so much anger, hatred and cruelty? For me, these holidays are a blessing because they are time that I can spend with my family. Not one of us is guaranteed another day on this earth, is it really worth fighting about whose religion is right or whose rituals are more important.
My point of view is this, an yes this is bound to be my most controversial blog ever, but here it goes. Have some freaking respect for other people. Be grateful that someone is actually taking time out of their day to greet you, regardless of whether or not it’s a holiday you celebrate. Someone say’s Merry Christmas, and your Jewish, say “thank you, Happy Hanukkah”. Rather we should rather stew and be mad that someone had the audacity to give you a warm greeting without reading your mind and knowing what holiday you choose to celebrate? Come on, we have bigger problems. We have the fact that kids today have no idea what these holidays even mean except that thy will get presents. They wake up looking for Santa, or the Holiday Armadillo, how many kids even know what these holidays are about other than 8 days of gifts, Santa, and the freaking Easter Bunny. And what about family? For me personally, the holidays are about taking the time to spend with my family. I’m blessed and grateful that I am not forced to feel like I need to go spend money I don’t have to buy gifts, that simply going over to my Dad’s in my pajamas and sitting on his floor and having a nice family dinner is enough for me.
I’m not trying to ream on anyone. There are plenty of people who love Christmas and everything it is TRULY about. There are tons of people who appreciate any greeting they get during the holidays, even if they don’t celebrate any at all. I mean really, think about Jehovah’s Witnesses, they don’t celebrate ANY of these holidays and have to be subjected to all the holiday stuff for a minimum of 3 months. I think we should just take a moment to look outside OUR SELVES for once and realize there are other people out there that don’t necessary believe the things that we do, or that don’t believe anything at all. It isn’t up to you or me to decide if that’s right or wrong, just give people the same respect that you wish for yourselves. In the end, we are ALL humans – right, wrong or otherwise, it isn’t for you to decide. I know for me, personally, I would just love for people not to be so mean during these months.
On that note…. HAPPY HOLIDAYS or to those who don’t celebrate any of these holidays, Happy November!!
PS – In case you were wondering, this blog is called Nutmeg because it is such a popular “fall flavor” and I despise it. 
But I’m happy that so many people are happy that the Pumpkin Spice Latte with all its nutmeg is back at Starbucks. That drink really does make a lot of people happy.
What is it about these holidays?
As I sat down to right this I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about. Then, I decided that since Thanksgiving is coming up, I should write about gratitude.
Sometimes I get frustrated that often it takes Thanksgiving for many people to express their gratitude, and I think that’s a shame. It’s similar to Veterans’ Day, while I think it’s great that Veteran’s Day is a holiday, why does it take that one day for people to thank the people who have served our country? Shouldn’t we be thanking them every day? They fight every day….and every night.
Anyway, I digress… back to Thanksgiving. It started a few days ago….people posting on their Facebook statuses all the things they are grateful for, and again, I am not criticizing people for showing or expressing their gratitude. However, I do think it’s kind of a shame that it takes a holiday for people to express gratitude.
According to Wikipedia Thanksgiving is:
“Thanksgiving Day, known informally as “Turkey Day,” is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving was a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends for which all have been blessed of material possessions and relationships. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.”
So, to clarify, I am not discounting Thanksgiving nor the idea behind it. However, is showing appreciation to God, Family and Friends one day a year really sufficient? Do we really need a holiday to drop to your knees and thank God (or whatever/whoever you believe in) for our MANY blessings. Because really, isn’t just waking up in the morning a blessing? Is thanking our family for supporting us throughout our life, on one day really enough? Is thanking our friends once a year for being our designated driver, or our shoulder to cry on the best that we can do? Have we become so wrapped up in our own life, and things that we have forgotten that we have someone to be grateful to for providing us with our life and the things that we have? Why is it that it takes the holiday season to say “Thank You” to someone for opening the door for you? Do we really need to be in the holiday spirit to hold the door open? Come on… And how about looking at ourself in the mirror and saying thank you? As a society, we don’t just take other people or possessions for granted, we take ourselves for granted to. We take our bodies, which most of us abuse on a daily basis, for granted more than anything. We feed them with alcohol, drugs, processed foods and chemicals, yet we don’t think about everything our bodies do for us…our heart beating for example.
I bet if we closed our eyes and thought about it we could very quickly think of 10 things we are grateful for EVERY day of the year. In the spirit of that challenge here are 10 things I am grateful for TODAY.
1. Waking up this morning
2. My cat and dog for showing me love by being cuddled up with me when I woke up this morning.d
3. The beautiful sunrise
4. The cooler weather
5. The hundreds of birds in the tree in front of my neighbors house that I hear every morning as I am getting in my car.
6. My starbucks friends for having started both mine and Kevin’s drinks so they were ready to go by the time I paid.
7. David Baird giving me a note that said I am appreciated
8. Derrik coming into my office at 4:07 and asking me what I was still doing at the office (which reminded me to leave)
9. Fred challenging me on my way of thinking.
10. Archangel Michael for helping me to maintain my positive energy (and Jamie’s too!)
11. My home, because every time I walk in the door I feel happy and blessed.
12. Jax for greeting me at the door and climbing up my leg to say hello.
13. Reese for laying on her back and giving me her belly.
Ok, well that’s 13, whatever. The point is, that if every day, we could just slow down and take 5 minutes to reflect on what we are really grateful for, I think we would be that much more grateful EVERY day.
“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!”
“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears”
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
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