So what is is Christmasly anyway?
There is this feeling you get, it starts around mid-December and it is one of the hardest things to describe, but I will do my best. I don't want to call it the "Christmas Mood" because I think it embodies more than that. It is familiar, it is part excitement, part anticipation. It is a feeling of warmth, wonder, and comfort. It is a collection of memories, traditions, and love at it's deepest. This is my best to describe that feeling. It seems as though it is stronger at a younger age and has slowly faded as I have gotten older. Man, what a tragic thought. How do you capture that? I have found that certain things put me back in that comforting place, mostly scents. Certain smells obviously bring it back, pine, vanilla, spices etc. Certain sounds, the murmur of voices and conversation mixed with laughter and clamoring dishes help bring it back.
And at last I answer my question. I like to think of it like music. As a child we have this ability to turn on, without hesitation, without any doubt we jump right to the chorus. We love without boundary, feel without doubt, we are so sure of things. We are sure there is a chorus to begin with, we are sure there will be gifts under the tree in the morning and things seem invincible, especially our parents. As we grow, so does our appreciation for detail, we are far less sure of things, and so much more aware of the happenings outside of our realm of self. I think that we long for that feeling because we created it as children in our innocence and as we grow beyond ourselves we see what goes into it is so beyond the simplicity in which we created it to be. So as adults, we listen to the whole song, from the lull of the orchestra tuning, right up through to the cadence. We see the whole picture that this time of year embodies. So I can choose to see it for all it is good for and relish the memories I do have, or see this as moving on. I choose good, I choose happy, I choose to feel Christmasly.