Why, as a non-Christian, do I get joy from a time many consider a religious holiday? Many of the
traditional carols I so like are Christianity-inspired, e.g. 'Silent
Night', but for me the season has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
I've always loved Christmastime. As far back as I can remember I looked forward to it, followed as it was by six weeks of summer school holidays. The joy and anticipation at primary school in the build-up to Christmas. The carols, the crafting. The decorations in shops and on the streets. Lower Hutt city used to erect three huge red candles at the southern end of town. I knew it was truly Christmas when they appeared.
The first Christmas I can
actually remember was the year we spent Christmas on the South Island's West Coast with our father's family. I was
eight. We were given Christmas stockings filled with mandarins or
little oranges, walnuts and little toys; the one and only time I've had a
stocking. I don't recall hearing any carols and we certainly didn't go
to church. What I do remember are the smells of that summer. Two distinct smells.
One
was a tree or plant with a very strong scent; a nice scent. The next
time I smelled it was many years later, when walking along a suburban
street. I was instantly jolted back thirty something
years. I stopped in front of a garden, trying to work out which plant
it was, but I couldn't.
Then, a few years further
on, a salesman in a shop was wearing a particular cologne or lotion, the
other smell I particularly remembered and one I hadn't smelt since I
was eight years old. I recognised it instantly. Once again, I was
transported back and it was Christmastime. I wish now I'd
asked him what he was wearing.
Those two smells are
to me the smells of that Christmas in the 1960s. I can't identify or
describe them but I know them instantly. That wonderful, memorable
Christmas I think was the beginning of my love for the Yuletide season.
I've
gotten a lot of flak over my love of Christmas. Eyes will roll when I
talk about decorations I've seen or bought; it's even been commented on
that I have such a lot. I don't mention things much anymore. I wear
earphones when playing my Christmas music, so as to not inflict it on
anyone else. Thanks to the Internet, there's a big selection of festive
films to watch when I need that feel-good hit. I belong to numerous
on-line Christmas groups where people share their crafts, decor,
pictures and memories. I have Christmas sites and a private Facebook
Christmas group. I made it private so I don't have to put up with
sarky comments from family and friends, under the guise of humour. But a
fig I do not give; my sites and groups give me pleasure. I've written a
Christmas poem, 'The Days of December' and a song, 'Antipodean Christmas
(Christmas Past)' about the Christmases of my childhood.
While
it's true I've always liked Christmastime, it's only in the last ten or
so years I've started Christmas crafting and regularly sourcing decor
and ornaments. I remember buying a little brown scarf-wearing bear from
a gift shop in the mid-1980s. I think that was the first
Christmassy decoration I ever bought and it hangs every year on my tree to
this day. In the 1980s I also bought little ceramic 'Avon' Christmas
bottles - a white mouse and a white chick. Every year still they are
put out on display.
This was in the days before the
Internet and on-line auction sites. If there were any shops that dealt
exclusively in Christmas - apart from Kirkcaldie & Stains in
Wellington in December - I didn't know of them. I never shopped at
Kirk's Christmas shop; I wasn't rich enough. So I didn't buy any really
and I never used to be that fussy about decorations because I had no
idea what was "out there". But now I am, fussy and aware! My
collection has grown a lot. What I'm trying to do is gradually acquire
good quality decorations and dispose of my less desirable ones. What I
like are traditional or quirky ornaments made of glass, metal, wood,
plaster or ceramic. I'll even buy papier mache or plastic, if I like
what it is. I like realistic-looking animals, not cute, squashy,
glittered ones. What I don't like is inflatables, too much bling,
cartoon characters and caricatures. I remember one year going into
a large department store where I'd shopped for Christmas decorations before and being sorely disappointed. Every single
nutcracker was pastel-coloured and covered in bloody glitter. I see
what's available in America, England and greater Europe and am jealous.
We in New Zealand have bugger all variety/quality and if a shop should
import some large pieces, they are priced exorbitantly.
My
oldest decoration and one of my favourites is a ceramic Santa head,
made by Crown Lynn in the 1950s. My father won two of them in a
raffle. For years they sat on a windowsill at home. One got broken some time.
I don't remember being given the other one but I must've asked for it
and have had it since my twenties. A couple of years ago I bought
another off Trade Me, so I could have two again. I try and buy things
in twos so I can leave one each to my children. They are going to be so
rapt!
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Talking of the religious aspect of Christmas, a few years back I was hankering for a more 'traditional' festive season and really wanted to experience a church Christmas service, so I took my mother along to a Salvation Army citadel. I am not a Christian and prefer the original meaning of the season, but I do love the carols and quite like the three wise men on their camels. I was disappointed. Yes, they sang some carols. But that was it. I didn't feel Christmas, and that's what I like about it - the feeling.
Christmas
cosiness for me will always be about a northern hemisphere winter: open
fires, roast dinners, snow, carollers wearing scarves, mittens &
pom-pom hats, sleigh rides, lighted candles on windowsills, red-breasted
Robins - everything we don't have. But most of all it's about the
thing we do have in common: the feeling made up of anticipation, joy,
goodwill, togetherness and love.
So that's the crux of it really. Feeling. Yes, I love
red, green, gold and silver ornaments. Yes, I love fragrant, decorated
trees and fairy-lights. Yes, I love Christmas music. Yes, I love
Christmas pies, pudding, cake and mulled wine. I love to decorate my
home with lights and ornaments, to make it a special place and time for
my grandchildren.
