That Band Aid Song Got It So Wrong and Yet Still So Right.

There's something wrong with the way we celebrate Christmas! I'm just not convinced we do it right. Thinking we're missing the point of Christmas is not a new or original idea. But every Christmas the conviction still alienates and overwhelms me. Yet again, I feel like Charlie Brown standing on stage asking, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" Every time the boxes come down from the attic and Christmas tunes dominate the airwaves, I get so depressed. I turn into this brooding poet version of the Grinch but without the he-even-carved-the-roast-beast ending. I rant: Christmas is too extravagant and excessive. We're missing the real meaning. (I think I run the risk of sounding like that overly dramatic Band Aid song about Africans crying and not even knowing it's Christmas Day. I could do an entire critique on this song, even though it's one of my favorites. But I won't. So please keep reading.)

Because this past year has been especially tumultuous, I really want something different for Christmas. This year, I've made a new commitment to joy. I'm not going to ignore the fact that our Christmases are too materialistic/consumeristic or that we are blinded by our own dancing Christmas lights so carefully adorning every (!) single (!) roof (!). But I am actively choosing to get down off my soapbox and embrace the joyous parts of Christmas.

Cue Linus: "Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights, please..."

My Gameplan of Joy

Much singing and dancing to Christmas songs : particularly "The Christmas Song" by The Raveonettes, "All I Want is Truth (For Christmas)" by The Mynabirds, and David Crowder Band's "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Fair trade and homemade gifts : It's unrealistic of me to expect people to stop giving gifts at Christmas. It's a tradition passed down from those wise men in the Bible. But why not give gifts that are responsible and beneficial to the people we never think about: the ones who actually produce them? Fair trade gifts are great and there are lots of fantastic fair trade companies. Even better than that, though, are gifts that actively help people rescued from slavery (often labor slavery). Some of my favorites: SariBari, Thistle Farms, Ten Thousand Villages, International Justice Mission.

Watching Elf at least five or six times, while quoting every line of the movie : "Do you want to get some food? You know, like the code? *wink*"

LoveGaveHope : LoveGave is a project the collective Church of Charleston adopted several years ago to give back to the community. This year we're camping out at three Wal-Marts for 58 straight hours to raise the money and supplies to demolish local orphanages' wishlists. This is my first ever LoveGave event, and I'm stoked. Check in at the LoveGaveHope website between Dec. 6th-8th to watch the live broadcast or to donate.

Enjoying (with eyes all aglow) the rainbow of lights and blow-up Santas on motorcycles : This will take many forms including but not limited to the Christmas tree lighting in Marion Square this Saturday, the annual boat parade (also Saturday), and the inevitable Christmas Eve drive through a Rock Hill neighborhood with my family.

Baking Christmas goodies and decorating gingerbread houses with my little sister : Prepare your hearts for an explosion of goopy frosting and sugary candies.

Drinking eggnog with friends : I've never tried it before and I'm lactose intolerant...so this is sure to be an adventure.

Being with my family : Seriously, I just want to be fully present in their lives for the few days I'm home. We'll go for wintery hikes, see The Hobbit and Les Miserables, drink hot tea together, etc.



(Ha. Bono has a mullet.)

That Band Aid song tells us that "the greatest gift they'll get this year is life." Let's be real. Life is the greatest gift we'll all get this year. That resonates a lot with me this Christmastide for various reasons. So for my own sake, I am going to enjoy life this Christmas! C'mon! Enjoy it with me! Why does it have to be complicated? It doesn't have to be an "either/or." I can be aware of the footprint Christmas leaves on the world, choosing to be a responsible consumer/celebrator, while also rejoicing in the fact that I have life and friends and family. There can be joy in the awareness.

Childhood in Light of Halloween

Halloween happens to be in my top 3 favorite holidays. On days like today, when the routine of life and the fluorescent lights of the library are determined to crush my spirit, I claim it as my very favorite (yes, above all the big ones: Christmas, Easter, the 4th of July, Arbor Day). To an extent, I may have inherited my enthusiasm for the creepiest of holidays from my younger sister, Victoria, who has gone all out for Halloween for as long as I can remember. It was only a matter of time, though, before my love of Edgar Allan Poe, Alfred Hitchcock, and Snickers caught up with me, too...yes, I love Halloween.

To celebrate this year, I dressed up as the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, one of my favorite books from when I was a kid. I made my own ears, rocked a pair of overalls, drew on whiskers and a little nose, and stuck a cookie (made of paper) in my pocket. And true to character, all day long, I craved a glass of milk to go with my cookie. I went to class, work, my internship at Darkness to Light, and my ESL class dressed as a mouse...I had no shame. It was Halloween! I am proud to say I elicited several smiles as people saw me walking down the street and when I entered a room.

The grand finale of my day caught me off guard. I thought the festivities were long over, and I was ready to wipe the drawn-on eyeliner off my nose. I was in a deserted frozen yogurt shop where my roommate, Courtney, works, waiting patiently for her to finish closing. Unexpectedly, she turned the music up, and recognition rolled over me: "Shout" by Tears for Fears. It was a beckoning back to our "American Duos: Shawn as Curt Smith and Gus as Michael Jackson" costume from last year. We danced in the classic Shawn and Gus fashion. No idea what I'm talking about? Here's a video to catch you up:

Anyway, one of the main reasons I love Halloween is that it is a celebration of childhood. For adults, it is the only day in the year where it is acceptable to "play dress up" and eat absurd amounts of candy. For me, as a child, I definitely exercised these freedoms more than just on Halloween. Halloween was the pinnacle of piecing together fun costumes and sitting on the floor surrounding myself with discarded candy wrappers until my stomach was swollen with sugary bliss. Remember trading pieces of candy with your friends? Remember the disappointment of getting a box of raisins or peppermint? Remember cold Halloweens where you just ended up wearing a coat over your costume as you trick-or-treated? Remember suspending disbelief and being genuinely terrified by every elongated shadow, yet finding nothing but joy in the terror?

I'm thinking a lot about childhood these days and what it means to reclaim it. With my work at Darkness to Light, I've learned a lot about child sexual abuse and the damage it does not only to a person's childhood but also to their future. There's something really freeing about looking back at the happy moments of your childhood, reflecting on the innocence and the intensity coloring every experience. I want to be more childlike in my everyday...not in the sense that I am immature and irresponsible, but that I really dig my toes into the dirt without worrying about getting dirty. I am currently planning an event for the spring centered around reclaiming childhood through the lens of child abuse as part of the Bonner Leader Program's Engage and Empower week.

So do me a favor and start thinking about your childhood. What are your favorite memories? What did you like to do most of all? What did you dream of becoming when you grew up? Who were your best friends? What was your favorite food? What music did you dance around to? What were your most painful moments? How did they shape you?
Tell me...what do you want to reclaim about your childhood?