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PUT THE FRENZY ON ICE

Nov 26, 2008 Peeping Tom

I enjoy this time of the year. Christmas is my favourite time of the year.
Unlike some people, I do not have to wait until I get the “feelings”.  I do not know what these “feelings” are that so many people speak about. But I gather that it is the measure by which they judge whether they are in the Christmas mood.
For all I know, that feeling may be something that is imagined, a state of illusion or delusion, whichever way you wish to look at it, a placebo-effect, not real but imagined.
The holiday season has changed a great deal over the years. There was a time when this season used to be associated in homes with the smell of fresh paint and varnish. Today, it is all about home makeovers, alterations and refurbishings. This shows that life is getting better for Guyana.
But while things are improving in some areas, in others there have been retrogression. I am astonished today at the mad rush for Christmas. Everything — the shopping, the cleaning, the decorating and the baking — is today mainly left for the last minute, with the effect that it is only on Christmas Day that people really get time to celebrate this wonderful period in Guyana, in which there is so much goodwill, excellent weather and lots of parties and free liquor to go around.
The holidays for me are not the national public holidays of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The holidays encompass that entire month before Christmas. These are my holidays.
I have never waited on Christmas Day to enjoy the season. I try my best to do the things I want to do in the run-up to Christmas Day, so that I can truly say on Christmas morning that I had a great time during the holidays.
There is not going to be any last-minute rush with me over the holidays. I do not have to spend days cleaning and de-cluttering the home, because these are things that I do often during the year; which means that by the time November comes along, there is not much cleaning to do.
I am into decorating the home early, unlike so many folks these days, who wait until the last week before Christmas, and in some instances until the night before Christmas, before putting out the decorations and the new blinds.
It does not matter how rich or poor you are, you must change your curtains for Christmas. This is a Guyanese tradition which helps create that illusion of difference, even if it is superficial. It does not mean that you have to go out and purchase new blinds; it could well mean simply bringing out from storage the blinds that are used each Christmas.
I try my best at this time to limit television. I like in the evenings to dim the lights and put on some Christmas songs. One of the great things today is that almost all of the old Christmas albums, as well as quite a few of the new ones, are now available on CD.
And what better way to spend an evening than listening to a mix of good old music. It sure makes my holidays enjoyable.
I also like at this time to do a bit of reading.  There are so many books which I have accumulated over the year but which I never had time to read; and at this time of the year, I like to sit under a tree in my yard and lose myself in a good book.
But while I lose myself in books, I also endeavour to find my way back to God. While Christmas is a Christian season, it is a good time, as we approach the end of the year, for everyone to take stock of the spiritual assets.
I try to use this period to come closer to my inner being and to the God who created me.
This is also a time to reunite with old friends. There are many parties at this time, and this allows me to meet persons I may not have seen as often as I should have during the year.
I enjoy going to the parties, to spend some time with persons that I know, as well as to meet new friends and acquaintances.
I hope that, whatever is your thing that you do for the holidays, you will do it early and ensure that we have a peaceful Christmas this year. After what Guyana has endured for this year, we certainly need to guard against that mad frenzy which has become a part of the days leading up to Christmas Day.
Let us put the frenzy on ice by doing what we have to do early, and have a quiet and relaxing Christmas.

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