Christmas

I don’t care how old you are; Christmas should make you feel excited. It should be a time of joy, of anticipation, of love. Note that I didn’t say everyone feels this way; but they should. It should be possible for all of us to enjoy a few days off and spend some time with people who make us feel valued (whether that’s your biological family or the one you built up around yourself). Idealistic? Sure. But what better time of year than Christmas to be a little unrealistically optimistic?

For me, Christmas this year was a conglomeration of a whole lot of different.

Disneyland
My first exposure to the 2011 holiday season was in Disneyland. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I traveled down to California with my Dad, stepmom and siblings in mid-November for a few days. I don’t care how old you are (sound familiar?); Disneyland should make you feel like a little kid. There’s something about the Magic Kingdom, about the first Mickey Mouse sighting of the trip, about waiting in lines and getting soaking wet on SplashMountain. Any one of those is enough to send me into fits of giggles and to break my face muscles with smiles. And all of them combined? On one of the slowest visitor days of the year? I was downright bursting with glee (as I have been every other time I’ve ever visited the park, even the time I dragged Monica along with me to Disneyland Paris!)

And this year, we combined all that excitement with Christmas! Disneyland had just completed its holiday transformation, which after 8ish visits, we’ve actually not experienced before (I say 8ish because the actual visit count for each of us is different... and because I can’t remember what my own is... suffice it to say, going to a Disney Park is kind of the Chorney-vacation-thing-to-do!!). The Haunted Mansion was made to look like a scene out of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, fake snow was blasted out of cannons at the conclusion of the firework display, and every exterior was bedecked with red-and-green shiny swag.

In short, Disneyland + Christmas = Awesome.

Throw in a little Chorney Kid Adventure (which just wouldn’t be one without being silly and drawing a crowd), and, well, does it get any better than that?

Advent

On the very very opposite end of nearly every spectrum known to man, is the season of Advent (when comparing it to Disneyland, that is). I’ve remarked to a couple of people that this year, I finally got it. Because the church calendar just hasn’t ever been a significant presence in my faith experiences, Advent (or Epiphany or Lent or... any other one, for that matter) hasn’t really meant anything to me. Over the past few years, as I’ve become more involved in the Lutheran tradition, I started noticing that we changed the colour of the trimmings. But still, that was about it.

Until this year.

I made a habit of attending the Thursday night candlelit services held at my church throughout the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Actually, I only really meant to check out the first one, but something inside my spirit really connected with God at that first one, and I couldn’t have stayed away from the others if I’d tried. They were peaceful. Serene. Spiritual. At the end of one of them, I inexplicably began to cry. Such a release of pent-up emotion could only be attributed to the peace I felt at being drawn into stillness mid-week, mid-season, mid-job-hunt, mid-stress. Everything else in my life melted away and I could just be. I must admit, it’s hard to explain just how I felt that night, and each night after I left those services. The best I can do is to say that I felt ... something.

The purpose of the Advent season is to anticipate the birth of Jesus. And this year, I really felt anticipatory. I felt the slow build-up of the season, the lifting of my spirit, the happiness of the general good mood around me.

The Season Itself

And then, after all the looking-forward-to, Christmas was upon us. And I had what was probably the best Christmas season I’ve had in a long time. From the “12 Days of Michael-and-Ang-mas” right through to the wonderful laziness of hanging out with my family and not doing anything on Christmas Day, it was all great. Just enough relaxation mixed with just enough social fun.

My Christmas Tree

Oh yes, and I purchased my very first “very own” Christmas tree this year. I was so proud I made everyone I know come look at it. It’s true. If you were within 50 feet of my house, and I knew you were there, you came in to see it.

Isn’t it cute? It’s just so... Angela. :)