Apart from the rum I put into the Christmas cake – far too much as it happens but I don’t hear the family complaining – this is the time of year one has to remember to take change out to put in the charity boxes in the shops. I wonder what they will do in the great cashless society everyone is talking about. It is the time of year when even dental surgeries actually look inviting, and warm, and a perfect cure to eating too much sweet stuff. A time to decorate the inside of the car, post a fun video on you tube and party.
I do wonder though why we want to make parties so much. It isn’t because of religion that we have parties, nor particularly the time of year though it helps to be cold. It seems to me to be part of the human spirit, and nothing to do with cheering oneself up in unhappy time; they have always been unhappy.
It is about not being what you have to be, but just being. Letting the alcohol if you need it rid you of your worries for a while and laughing and playing silly games with friends. In fact parties are the perfect time to reconnect with one’s childhood.
If we had never lost that connection Christmas would be unimportant.