weston culture » christmas

My favouritest xmas cartoon. Ever.

trish — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:00:20 +0000

This makes me smile.

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One hot day in December

trish — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:09:55 +0000

Do I load up the iTunes with some very special Motown OR loungey Christmas tunes OR Handel’s Messiah?

Do I make sparkly tinsel hats OR reindeer antlers for the cats?

Do I venture to the outer burbs of Brisbane to share a meal with my family OR fly to Sydney to feast with my friends?

Christmas for me is about choices. That last choice has become easier in recent years as my parents have gotten older and I have become more accepting of difference (of the conventional kind).

Actually most of the choices that bring on the headaches at this time of year are much simpler. Life is much simpler and free. I don’t have to believe or adhere to any particular religious doctrine. I feel no need to over-consume. I don’t need to myself into debt by giving material gifts. I don’t need to play happy families.

I can have my own beliefs and values and make the day and the season whatever is important to me.

So whether you choose to celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Santa Claus, Solstice or None Of The Above, I hope you too have choices in the hot days of December.

This article first appeared in Design Notes, the newsletter of the Work/Life Design Program. You can find out more about Design Notes and the WLD Program at www.worklifedesign.com.au

What is your gift?

trish — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:05:34 +0000

Here are more musings from the December 2009 edition of Design Notes…

For this month’s Design Notes, I wondered if it was possible to have conversations at this time of year that went a bit deeper than “surviving the silly season” or “coping with Christmas”.

What can this season, this time of year, teach us about our lives? What values does it celebrate – or throw into conflict? What cultural expectations do we unconsciously subscribe to that bring us unstuck because they go against our personal values? Mass consumption anyone? Presumption of religious affiliation? Presumption of family or loved ones to share the season with?

A north American study found that 45% of people surveyed dread the festive season. It’s a time when many people reflect on their lives – and don’t like what they see. For some, it’s a reminder of loved ones lost. For others, it’s a reminder that there is no one to love or be loved by.

So what gifts could we give that will truly help share the love, peace, joy and goodwill that we espouse?

Does a gift have to be a material object? Can it be your time, your attention, your ears, your heart?

This article first appeared in Design Notes, the newsletter of the Work/Life Design Program. You can find out more about Design Notes and the WLD Program at www.worklifedesign.com.au

Finding meaning and joy beyond the hype of the festive season

trish — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:32:48 +0000

At this time of year, when our cultural expectations are high (Christmas with family, obligatory gift giving, celebration of religious holy days) and constantly in our face (can you go anywhere or do anything without being greeted by tinsel, baubles and a large man in a red suit?), it can be easy to get caught in the wash of it all.

Most of us do want to belong.

The values the season purports to represent – joy, peace, love, goodwill – are things I definitely want in my life. But I am still unsettled by the way it’s all played out. For many years I resisted Christmas. It represented everything that I didn’t want – mass consumption of gifts and food, spending time with people I had little in common with and didn’t accept me for who I was, and having to play along with the illusion of happy families to keep the peace.

Early in this decade, as I began to re-examine my life and what was important, I looked for, and found, the good in the season. Those values I wanted everyday in my life were buried under some leftover gift wrap and a half-eaten piece of pudding (complete with brandy custard).

I looked to see what others got out of Christmas. Why do people go to extraordinary effort to make this day happen? There was the ritual of it – suddenly everyone knew what was expected. Crackers on the left and Santa serviettes on the right. There was the coming together of people who usually didn’t come together, there was the opportunity to show your love and give gifts to those you cared for, there was the affirmation of deeply ingrained religious beliefs that it was all alright. The saviour had come.

Intellectually, I got it. I understood why people would run about like headless chooks to get the perfect gift or perfect glaze. I understood the symbolism and hope of a saviour – that brought joy, peace, love and goodwill too.

Christmas became a cultural experience for me where I ventured into a different land. A land I was quite familiar with, as I knew the customs and rituals, but I saw it with new eyes.

With these new eyes I marvel at the sheer amount of food prepared and consumed. It fills me with joy that I can live in a time and place of such abundance (as I’m acutely aware that my everyday life does not include such feasts). But this overflowing isn’t due to affluence, it’s the result of everyone bringing one thing to the table – literally.

So, as we move into the second half of December, I’m wondering what we can glean from this time of year? What’s so very important to us that our culture virtually stops (commercially anyway) to celebrate it?

This article first appeared in the December 2009 edition of Design Notes, the newsletter of the Work/Life Design Program. You can find out more about Design Notes and the WLD Program at www.worklifedesign.com.au