Ros de Virieux

Returning home for Christmas had been the most wonderful experience; spending time with my gorgeous boys and their friends and catching up with my friends. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share a small part of my life with them – only a speck in my lifetime.
However, Christmas itself has never held much importance for me. I had always struggled with the irrelevance of consumerism and pretense of ‘good will towards man’ while humanity was at war with itself, unless of course, you were a devout Christian. I had always thought it was commercialism gone mad and only advantaged the retail industry while causing increased poverty, stress and perceived psychological inadequacies for the community in general. Hands up if you have ever increased your credit card debt, or worried over buying gifts for people that you gave little (or in some cases NO) attention, for the remaining 364 days of the year? Have you spent agonizing days/weeks considering what gift to buy for a special person only to find they didn’t really like it and/or unbeknown to you, have already returned it to the place of purchase for a refund to buy something they really wanted? Have you received gifts from people just ‘popping in’, only to find you have nothing to give them in return and stress about how this makes you feel and how you might be perceived by your well wisher? Are you a parent who is manipulated by clever marketing and subliminal messaging that to be a good parent you should, no – are mandatorily required – to buy this toy (expensive ones only please) or the latest craze for your child so you don’t look like a failure in front of your children’s peers? If you are a parent of a toddler, have you found they are more interested in the wrappings and boxes that the lastest, most expensive toy came in, than the toy itself? So ask yourself, why do you bother? Are you missing the point of the 21 century meaning of Christmas?

Today, Christmas has lost most of its Christian message, as attested to by other religions observing it a day of importance. So let’s take a step back to also consider another meaning. What if it was a time to remember or be with those we love or cherish as friends and that our greatest gift we can give them, is to share our precious time. Our personal time is probably our most valuable asset in the 21 century as we have become extremely time poor due to our busy lives, demands of employment and/or other completing demands. Consider this: Is posting a Christmas card to a relative more important than giving them a quick call to say hi? Is it better to spend a whole day playing with your children at a park or beach with a picnic then to give them a toy to play with while you stress about how to pay the next power bill? Is it better to share a lunch with your friends so you can all talk and laugh with each other than to worry and stress about how you will feed the party of 20 you are expecting for lunch?
I returned home to be with my gorgeous sons for three weeks which also included Christmas. I absolutely loved being with them and their friends, being included and sharing in their activities and fun. I loved just sharing my time with them, as they shared their time with me. I also absolutely adored having coffee, lunch and dinner with my beautiful friends who also took time out of their busy schedules to be with me. (Sadly though, I did not get to share my time with other friends and family, as time went all too quickly.) However to me, sharing and actually being with someone because you love them, is the true essence or spirit of Christmas.
Now is the time to consider how you will treat Christmas 2011: consumerism or love? Its your choice!