The Lake House

I was driving back to The Lake House last night after a nice, relaxing trip to The Spa at the Cove for a quick 30-minute massage with my Mom (my Christmas gift to her) when I took notice of something unusual, at least to me.  Maybe I noticed it more this year because I was in a very bah-humbug mood over the holidays, but not many people seem to put up Christmas lights anymore.  I remember when I was a kid, every house on the street would have lights on the outside, those cheesy, huge coloured lights – certainly nothing like the fancy “icicle lights” of today – and there was a tree in almost every window (real, not fake).  It was a pretty big deal.  Christmas was about being with tons of family and friends, feasting on delicious food and drinking rum and egg nog and other beverages typically only reserved for the holiday season.  We didn’t spend a shitload of money on presents that do nothing but detract us from human contact, and everything just seemed to go a lot slower and actually had some kind of meaning.  Now, everyone is so damn busy, we all spend way too much, and the tradition of the festive dinner with family seems to have gone by the wayside for many of us.  This time of year used to bring everyone home – families separated by distance, old friends making the trek home to spend the holidays with family and catch up with long-lost buds at the local pub.  Now everyone does their own thing and its all getting disjointed and empty.

This year, Christmas for me was truly miserable and happy to say I am glad its over.  Never in my life did I ever think I would utter those words, let alone even think them because I happen to LOVE Christmas.  This year, I did not love it.  So many things have changed in my world in the past six months, and this Christmas hit me in the face with the hard realization that the traditions I have come to love and cherish and look forward to in my life have significantly changed.  Some are perhaps gone forever.  What I would truly love to see is a Christmas where you make a special gift for the people you love (this year I did a memory book for someone and some picture frames with amazing photos I have taken for another person), stop the extravagant spending, and have a huge, festive potluck dinner with family and friends all gathered together.  Find some way to help others and give back to those that truly have nothing.

What I have learned from this year, I suppose, is that new traditions need to be forged along the way, even if you do it kicking and screaming the entire time.  As for next year, I can’t think that far ahead right now, but I do hope when the time comes I will find some new tradition to put the joy and true meaning back into Christmas for me, and that would be a really good place to start.