It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas is awesome! I am sure most will agree, except for those of you celebrating other holidays. But even if you don't appreciate Christmas you can't help but appreciate some of the results. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a gift or two? And the holiday season can really bring out the best in some people. So even if you don't celebrate it, you can at least respect that it is a holiday dedicated to giving, despite the fact that it has turned into a retail nightmare.
I am spending Christmas with my older sister, her little family, and my mother. It has been pretty rewarding so far. I spent my morning watching two adorable children open gifts and get enthused about Santa Claus. Victory.
Santa Claus is a brilliant ploy. I mean really, what better way to get your children to stop being bad and to stop crying? "Sally, if you're not nice to your little brother then Santa won't give you any presents, and, Tommy, you know that Santa doesn't like pouty faces. Will he have to leave you a lump of coal this year?" Our ancestors knew what they were doing when they came up with that one.
As to giving, I'm not really sure I'm that great at it yet. I mean, I enjoy giving, but I'm not sure if the people receiving are really enjoying what I give. This, I suppose, could be a great New Year's Resolution.... I must think more on that one. The good news is that this year, at least, I just had my sister, her husband, and her kids, none of which are hard to please. A board game, a truck, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, and one free babysitting coupon later and I was set. But even with all of those gifts I ended up having to ask what I should get and where I should go to find it. A true gift giver knows what the person wants already, and wouldn't give the surprise away by asking about it. And the best gifts really do come from the heart. Giving someone what they want from a retail store isn't the same as giving them what they need from your own two hands.
To improve our giving I suggest looking to the ultimate giving example. Our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the reason for the season after all. His sacrifice for us, given out of pure love, is what leads us to the greatest gift of all: Eternal Life. And pure love, charity, is why we give in the first place. Gifts should be a symbol of the love we feel that we can't express in any other way. Sometimes words are not enough.
So, although it is a bit late to do anything about this year's Christmas, it might be a good idea to consider these things for next year. Not to say that I've got this whole thing completely figured out yet myself, but I think as a society in general we could improve on our giving skills, because giving is a skill. I only know a few people who were just born with the talent.
To finish off, I would just like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, etc. and a Happy New Year (unless of course you're Chinese, because you don't celebrate it at the same time).
P.S. Do you love how my entire post was about Jesus Christ, and then at the end I tried to be politically correct? Wow, I did a good job on that one.

December 23, 2010 Garage Thoughts

In an attempt to be proper, or, at least, in an attempt to not confuse you, I will begin this blog with an introduction. I am a relatively sane, healthy, normal, American girl. I enjoy sleeping, eating, breathing, and pretty much anything else required for living. When I am not engaged in these activities I can generally be found singing, writing, acting, crocheting, and attending Super Awesome University. I am the youngest of eight children, which means that my mother was pregnant for a total of six whole years of her life. Yeah, ouch.

This blog is primarily for my own enjoyment. I know, how selfish of me. Mostly it will just be filled with the strange and terrible thoughts I come up with throughout my days, and if you don't find that interesting... well, that sucks. I'm going to write anyway.

I have recently been heavily involved with helping my mother move from 2000 sq feet to 120 sq ft. This task has included a lot of heavy lifting on my part and I have found myself wishing that I had the money to hire two burly men named Merv and Spike to do the lifting for me, but alas, like most college students I am completely broke.

Today was a joyous day though, because I have finally moved the last of my mother's stuff into my sister's garage, so at last my part of this great undertaking is done. But as I was moving boxes of seemingly worthless junk into the garage I thought that the back of our minds are a lot like little storage units for the thoughts we don't use. We carelessly box up our little used thoughts and store them back there, thinking that someday there might be some use for them. But really, they're just taking up space. For instance, the box of thoughts labeled '9th Grade Geometry'. I haven't opened that box in years, and I am seriously considering throwing it out. 

Then we have those scary thoughts. Those thoughts that we only keep because we can't get rid of them. We store them in a corner, hoping that we never have to go back there for any reason. This is where we keep thoughts like 'Our Biggest Fears' and shoved way near the back 'Repressed Memories'. These are the thoughts expensive therapists are often so keen to know about.

Then we have those thoughts that are so nice that we're almost as scared of them as the 'scary thoughts'. Thoughts like 'What I Want to be When I Grow Up' and 'When I Fall in Love'. I think the main reason these thoughts are so frightening is that they're just dreams, and dreams, though beautiful, don't always come true.

Such were my musings as I carried awkward loads and cursed Merv and Spike for being so expensive.