Merry Christmas to One and All
COMMENT, Global – As I write this it is almost Christmas. And all over the world many of us are getting ready for Christmas Day.
In Europe, many people I spoke with are sitting down to Christmas.
A big traditional Christmas with your family, although that term “family” is more complex these days.
Many of you will have a Christmas tree. Some of you are eating turkey or chicken, some canneloni, pudding, fruit cake, beef, mince pies or even fish.
Père Noël, Babbo Natale, St Nicholas, Weihnachtsman or Santa Claus may bring your children gifts, and fill their stockings or pillowcases with care!
Some of you in a big home, with snow outside, that most traditional White Chritmas outside.
In warmer Australia however most people have seafood, chicken or lamb, often at a barbeque, and quite often with copious amounts of beer or wine.
But let’s not forget those of us who don’t have the traditional Christmas.
Modern Christmas, Alone
But in the modern world, many more of us are eating alone.
In apartments, or empty homes. In houses won in messy divorces. Or simply serving in a foreign military deployment. Maybe not ‘alone’, but far from family.
And some of us are in big families, yet still out of place and alone.
I have been there. It seems sad, and melancholy. I have sat in an apartment alone on Christmas, when I was away from home.
For the last several years, Christmas has primarily been a lunch feast with my wife and mother. Our families are scattered around the globe, so Christmas of any other type is difficult, although we have been overseas on Christmas Day in Vienna.
A wise man once said, “never eat alone”. There has been more recently books on this topic. The basic idea, is to always eat your meals with company?
If you are alone, why not try and get together with a group?
Or if you know someone alone, invite them over to dinner.
Or if you are alone, go and help out at a church lunch on that day… they are in most cities.
What about Being together and Still Alone
But we can be in a big family group, and the “outsider” and alone. In this world, we don’t always engage deeply. Sometimes we simply don’t fit with our families.
This is not always our fault however. Partly this is the modern world, a lack of time together, a lack of shared interests (in the world of increasingly fragmented interests) or simply shared customs.
The answer is perhaps simple, yet hard. An old friend of mine, significantly older and wiser than me told me when I was 18.
“I have learnt in life the danger of expecting too much, and forcing myself to be happy with only the way things ought to be.”
“It is far more useful to be happy with the way things are.”
Patricia
Growing up an American in Australia, I quickly learnt that I had nothing in common with my extended Aussie family, whose idea of Christmas fun was far from traditional. A barbeque in the heat, with flies and dirt, and lots of alcohol is a typical Aussie Christmas for many. Much of it involves being drunk, in some cases.
Australia is a new country, and suffers from lack of meaningful traditions. Drinking has been a Christmas practice at times in history, but it is hardly a tradition.
So for some of us, even in groups, we can be alone.
We have to learn that it is not always our fault, if we are alone at Christmas.
So don’t be sad this Christmas, take time:
Even if you’re not a practising Christian. Read a Bible a little, Start with the new Testament, perhaps the book of Mark or Luke?
Greet your extended family warmly.
Go to a Catholic or other Church, even if only for 5 minutes.
Have a few drinks with your family and forget about old differences.
Listen to Christmas Carols, and sing along!
Or if all fails, sneak off and read a book you enjoy!
Don’t expect too much, and you won’t be disappointed, as my old friend said.
Sometimes we wait so long for Christmas we have expectations of it to be like the past, or some ideal. It may not be. Take the good bits, and gloss over the bad…
Merry Christmas to You
Whether you are with your family, friends or alone this Christmas, Merry Christmas to you!
And I hope 2008, brings you Dear Readers, and Ideas People everywhere many great things, and great and good change in our world.
Thanks for engaging in the “Global Innovation Conversation” with me throughout the year.
We will work together, dear friends, to change the world in technology, environment and culture in 2008!
Buon Natale and Merry Christmas!
Christopher
Speaker. Author. Editor-In-Chief. Executive Director of Innovation, 2thinknow.
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