IS IT TIME FOR CHRISTMAS?

I thought it is only me.

I look outside my car window and there is barely any Christmas decor out in the streets.  Except for malls or department and certain enclaves in business areas, it seems that everyone wants to skip out Christmas this year ... or they want it done and over with.  

I remember the time when the street where I lived literally blazed with Christmas lights, lanterns and all sorts of electric conflagrations to remind us that 'tis the season to be merry. I recall all those Christmas carols blasting from the radio as early as October just to remind people that Santa Claus is coming to town.

Now I only see token decor in a house or two.  Yes, you still come across one of these token houses who defy the Universe by installing all the available Christmas lights in every imaginable color to turn their abodes into Tinkerbell's nightmares. But then even these are barely found this year.  It seems like almost everybody is scrimping. Or we don't care much that it's Christmas time at all.

A friend commented that people have become wiser not to fall for the trap of capitalism in turning the holidays into one grand Spendfest.  

Well, it has always been that way. Thanks to their 13th month salaries and the bonuses from the more generous of bosses, there is extra money to spend not only for the necessities but for the little excesses to reward one's self at the end of the year.

Some say that Christmas this year is bleak because business for them is bad. Some sincerely feel bad that there is not much money to use to buy gifts or even that big noche buena that connotes the highlight of the season.

But then again, we need to reorient ourselves here.  

And I am not about to go into that usual path about peace on earth, goodwill to men --- or that this is all about the birth of a very special infant in a manger. I hope to be more real and practical about this by saying that if it is all about money (which it is) as a measure of your capacity for happiness (which everybody says should not be but you still believe is essential), then you don't need Christmas at all.

Having money helps, all the time.  The best things in life are free ... blah, blah, blah ... sige na. But money still helps and yet you cannot allow the bulkiness of your wallet or the mind-boggling digits of your bank accounts to be a definition of who you are and what you want people to think of you.  After all, everybody should know that not everybody who uses paper money bills as wallpaper means that said creature is actually happy. Just definitely insecure and probably a little sick.  

People who think that money is the be-all and end-all for happiness will never find enough fulfillment in whatever season of the year, regardless of whatever blessings he may already have received.  

Maybe the world is just a bit much sicker than it ever was which is why people are not feeling good enough to celebrate Christmas.

Maybe it is because every time you turn on your TV set to catch the news or scroll down your Twitter updates you come to realize that there is so much insanity and self-destruction out there now (not to mention impending dangers for the worse yet to come) so that you couldn't give a care in the world if some reindeer's nose is red.

But it is as if feeling more miserable can change anything that is beyond our everyday powers.  Marinating in misery does not and will never make the world any better.  Neither is flippancy nor disinterest. Sadness is infectious and multiplying this by telling the world that you're ready for your shutdown does not make your contribution commendable.

So many agree that Christmas this year is one of the dreariest ever. However, I have decided that I will not get me down. Yes, I rant ever so often because of the hopeless traffic or the zigzagging motorcycles in the main thoroughfares of Manila but I am not going to let all these steal away Christmas from me.  

Maybe I need not measure the significance of the season with the number of lights glowing outside my window.  Rather, it is the thought that the year is about to end and I have my family, I have my friends. my students, my co-workers ... and even my dogs who love me. And those are enough reasons to celebrate --- with our without Santa Claus.

Allow me to be schmaltzy: Christmas is a state of mind.  And if you lose your capacity to be unreasonably thankful and happy, then you have just dug a shithole to spend the rest of your life.