Palapit na ang Disyembre

Christmas once again is fast approaching and once again all sorts of Christmas carols, Christmas related television programs, and Christmas inspired designs all come popping out. It is once again the season of ritualistic superficiality where there is but little innovation occuring.. except from the rapid mushrooming of different kinds of bazaars all over the metro. The primary colors of the month once again would acquaint our eyes with all shades of greens and reds. The fat jolly clause, whose physique frankly reminds of a man in the verge of getting a heart failure, is the highlight of the time for his promise of gifts and presents. Houses will be decorated to the T, copying magazine versions of how the Christmas house ought to look like. A Christmas tree is the house centerpiece where all sorts of colored lights and balls brighten the symbol. (Honestly, I don't even know why there has to be a tree, except that it roofs all the presents we will be receiving) Curtains could be changed and plates, place mats, glasses could be replaced for more Christmas-y pieces. Walls, windows, trees, gates.. anything at all could be burdened with all these Christmas trinkets - which will eventually be removed in a month's time. (For practicality's sake... why do we subject ourselves to such conformity?)

The television will be airing all versions of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol - from the Muppets version, to the Flintstone's version, to the Mickey Mouse version. I am expecting movies like the Santa Claus, Grinch, Santa Clause Jr., Jingle All the Way, Home Alone, and any program that has anything to do with Christmas, Santa or at the very least, snow... Not to mention that almost all programs will once again be rubbing the theme so much that it's so difficult to concentrate of anything else - Christmas shopping, Buena Noche, Simbang Gabi..

This very boxed outline of how Christmas will progress has been consistently performing in the past years. Traffic will double, triple even, in market areas; people will be flocking all sorts of malls, presents will eventually be bought lest Christmas be a disaster (as being pointed out in "Nightmare Before Christmas"), men in stuffy old red coats and fake cotton beards will be sitting in malls or restaurants waiting for some kid to pretend not to notice and be willing to take pictures with him. Charities flowing in temporarily as if this act of altruism will sustain the poor charity-recievers for longer than a month or so.. and make up for the many time donators could've but didn't.

This is Christmas, year in and year out.. And honestly, I've never been inspired nor felt any bit of enlightened by the season - it's just one of those things you have to go through.. and I used to think it was some magical turning point where lives are altered and people feel a wee bit propelled to move on into higher levels of conciousness.