The holidays are upon us, and I feel like every year, Christmas especially, becomes more and more commercialized. Businesses and companies press on people to buy this and buy that. There are pre-Christmas sales and after-Christmas sales, and I understand that these places have to make money, but society has absorbed the idea that gift-buying and money spending are the best ways to have a good holiday season. This, I think is wrong.
To me, the holidays, especially Christmas, are about being with family. Since I was born, my family goes to New Mexico to spend time with cousins, my aunt and uncle, and my grandparents. We’ve always been to my great-aunt’s Christmas morning breakfast, and we always spend the morning with family that we don’t see all year. That’s really special and really important to me.
The holidays are also about making new memories with the people I spend time with. Every winter break, I know a lot of kids take that time to sleep and catch up on their games and spend time away from everything. While that isn’t always a bad thing, I believe that it’s important to make the most out of the time we have with others when we have it. My sister and I spent time together training our bird, going to the mall, and messing around at our grandpa’s house. I enjoyed long conversations with my aunt and uncle and grandpa while in New Mexico. Some people in our lives won’t always be in our lives, and it’s crucial to take time to be with them and make the most of that while you can.
The holidays are also a time for being outside in the cold, winter air, taking time to be in the snow and if there’s no snow (@Colorado SO FAR THIS WINTER), just the cold. Personally, I love snow and the cold and in case you didn’t know, winter is my favorite season. Going for walks with the fresh, crisp winter air is one of the most refreshing and wonderful things. Watching snow fall and seeing snowflakes melt on the warm sidewalk or on the car window is beautiful to me. Being out throwing snowballs at my sister or chasing Marty and Boo through the snow is so much fun.
I know that we all have our different religions and traditions and ways of spending the holidays, and this is what it means to me. To those of you going through finals week, I wish you the best of luck. To those of you on break already, you’re so lucky. I wish you all a very Happy Holidays and best wishes in 2018!
