From years 0-10, Christmas was good. I have fond memories of being excited about Christmas morning, seeing all the gifts, toys, games, candy, and everything. My parents got me Star Wars and G.I. Joe toys that I love to this day. When I was young, Christmas was fun. There were holiday specials on TV, lights on the houses of every neighborhood, snow on the ground, and I was nice and warm in PJ’s and slippers, drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. Christmas was made to be something special because my parents and the older generation actually cared. They put time and effort into the holiday that made it special.
Of course, there was the religious aspect to it. Living in a Christian household, we had to go to church twice a week, and even more around Christmastime. We were all reminded of the “Reason for the Season,” which is, of course, the birth of Jesus. Candlelight Christmas Eve service, plays, productions, choir performances and the rehearsals that went into them for two months before. There came a point where it stopped being enjoyable and became more of an obligation. Not just for church, but for all of it.
There’s something inherently wrong about this end of year holiday. I realized it when I started seeing the ads creep out of December and into November and sometimes, even October. TV, internet, radio, print ads, mailers, billboards, the list goes on and on. It gets worse with social media; the family gatherings, parties, posts with photos, memes, and videos about the stupid Elf on the Shelf! And when I go to work, that makes it beyond unbearable! Everyone’s taking vacation around the holidays, which causes an end-of-year rush to complete a lot of work, then there’s the obligatory holiday work gathering where everyone talks about their plans, favorite Christmas movies, holiday stories; it’s completely overwhelming.
The increased traffic, the people, the sales, the spending, the worry, the pressure, the anxiety… all mixed together in a bubbling pot while the heat keeps slowly rising… the inability to contain it will eventually result in it boiling over, spilling all over the floor, making a mess. It’s no wonder people eat and drink their problems away. The joy is gone. The feelings of bliss and delight are flushed down the toilet. How did it get to this point? Why did this happen? Who is to blame?
I know the reason why I’m disappointed in xmas. I know why the child-like excitement disappeared and why it’s become a time of stress and dread. I know why we all keep repeating the same pattern year after year and why it’ll only get worse over the next 100, 200, 300 years and beyond.
The average American child will most likely receive an object they desire on Dec 24 or 25. The nostalgic memory is permanently imprinted on their minds and in their hearts, leading them to believe that happiness comes from material items, and that belief is held for the rest of their lives. Xmas teaches people to be greedy. The companies and businesses of these material goods know this and, like any good manipulator, exploit the weakness of greedy people. They are required to market goods and services at year’s end to maximize profits, squeezing in more money that they possibly didn’t make earlier in the year, so they can meet projections, exceed expectations and get fat raises for making the company millions. Greedy corporate lackeys pressuring the greedy American public to buy shit they don’t need, driving themselves further into debt, so the credit card companies can keep taking their cut and so the currency flow can keep showering the rich and powerful.
We did it to ourselves. We told them what we wanted with our dollars and set ourselves up for failure. We’re perpetuating that failure by making our children believe that their joy comes from a colored piece of plastic from Wal-Mart. These global businesses know the capitalism, consumerism, commercialism, and the greed, gluttony and selfishness will never stop. They’re banking on this intense human desire which is driven by nostalgia. Our own sentimentality is being used against us and we don’t even know it. They take the old, warm feelings of wonder, joy, and anticipation and exploit them for their own financial gain and we fall for it every time. We work hard for the money we make and blow it all on the fruitless endeavor of attempting to regain the feeling we once had when we were young. God, we’re a bunch of fucking idiots. Amazon knows this and is hoping we won’t notice and don’t care. The “Xmas Spirit” has become a synonym for engineering empty emotions to attain domination and control of the minds, hearts and pocketbooks of this country’s pinheaded puppets.
I don’t care about xmas. I don’t want to celebrate it. I don’t believe in the reason for the season. I don’t believe in Santa Claus. I don’t want to contribute to the problem. I don’t want to be the problem. It’s all been tainted for me. Every snowman, every Santa, every snowflake is a visual representation of the trick they pulled on us – the lies they told us. They do it because they can. It’s not fair. They repeatedly deceive us while we’re being told it’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s disgusting.
The most difficult thing for me is, I’m naturally a giving person. I love to give things to my family and friends. The feeling I get when providing food, clothes, shelter, and other random, fun personal belongings to my wife and kids is the most satisfying feeling ever. Just knowing that they’re well taken care of puts my mind at ease. As a husband and father, I work hard to make as much as I can so I’m able to be a good provider for my family. That’s my job. I already have an employer that gives me orders, makes demands, and steals 40 hours of my life every week. I don’t need a multitude of companies, businesses, enterprises and corporations doing the same to me 24 hours a day.
I’m 46 years old. I’ve had enough of the tension. I’m sick of being squeezed for every second, every drop of sweat, every dollar. I just want peace. I want to be in a place that doesn’t try to influence me to be controlled.
