(Warning, long post ahead...)
My dad and Amy are having an email discussion about holidays and what they mean to us. Part of it stems from preparation for the winter holidays. We've pretty much stopped with gift giving except for birthdays.
To me, at least, gift giving turns an otherwise happy holiday into a consumeristic stress fest. Does anybody enjoy shopping for Christmas gifts anymore? We've managed to do it a few times, and we're for a couple of years been at the point where watching others open was more fun than the actual opening. There's been a family tradition on my side to make wish lists. Since it was hard to really know people well, having a list to choose from made it easier to shop and know it's something the person wanted. On the other side, it kinda kills the idea of "it's the thought that counts."
When we decided to not do gifts anymore it was a huge weight lifted. With that also comes explaining to others that they shouldn't be going through that whole rigamorole (there's a word I seldom get to use...) with buying for us. All too often (especially with Jareth now) people overdid it. My parents have that tendency in particular.
So, anyway, to the topic at hand... So Amy and Dad are having this email discussion of sorts. Amy copies me on her main response. I think it's time for met to get some ideas down and out. We'll have to explain it all before too long anyway.
So here's some of my perspective:
The year is like a wheel. It goes around and around, and each time the same point comes up it's at another spot down the road. So it turns, but it's never the same. We divide the year into four seasons. There are four major points in the day: Dawn, Noon, Dusk, Midnight. Our lifespans can be broken similarly into four stages: Birth, childhood, adulthood, death. There are even four main phases of the moon...
Each of these are cycles that repeat all around us. Those cycles are an integral part of our experience this time around. So, with that in mind, a little on seasons:
Spring/Dawn/Birth
These are the times of beginnings. At birth we welcome a person into the world. We welcome dawn as the beginning of a new day. We welcome Spring as a season of new growth. Spring is the time to start things anew.
Summer/Noon/Childhood
These are times of growth and joy. Summer is vacations and picnics, childhood is a time for play.
Fall/Evening/Adulthood
These are times for winding down and reflecting. Fall is harvest time. Evening tends to be family time after work. Adulthood is reaping the benefits of a career, achieving the dreams of youth.
Winter/Midnight/Death
These are times of endings and changes. Much of nature rests during winter before waking up again in the spring. We sleep through the night, resting for the next day. And eventually we die and take some time to reflect before another trip around the wheel of life. In old times winter was a time to school children, a time to gather as a community and feast.
So the equinoxes and solstices are obvious things to celebrate. There are other cultural and seasonal holidays spread around the wheel, just as the four main compass directions can all be divided to make four more directions. There are a couple aside from the four seasonal ones. Thanksgiving, Halloween--two easy examples.
So while the Jews have their festival of light, and the Christians can celebrate Jesus, we honor the winter end of the cycle at Winter Solstice. It's the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's a time to gather with family and share. It's a time to come together as a community, to bury grudges, and to purge physically and mentally to be able to start the new year fresh.
We plan on donating clothes and some other stuff we won't be using. When Jareth is bigger we're hoping to donate time by helping at places like local soup kitchens.
There will probably be more than just four holidays a year for us. We're still defining what they should be. But this is enough for tonight. Amy's home. :-)
Posted by fictionman at October 13, 2005 10:15 PM | TrackBack (1)