What is Christmas?

For too many years we have listened to the Christmas commercial hype telling us we must have this, or must do that to have the perfect Christmas. But Christmas isn't about material things. Putting aside for just a moment the reason behind Christmas, Jesus birth, the holiday is about spending time with loved ones; family and friends who care about you. It's about the imperfections that make us laugh and cling to each other when all we want to do is give up, or cry. Christmas is a celebration of our support groups in life. The acknowledgment of the love we give and get everyday. So what are you doing for Christmas this year? Are you rushing around trying to make everyone else's Christmas special, or are you taking time to be with them and create Christmas memories?

Remember the times when you made Christmas cookies, played with wrapping paper, sang to your children at bedtime, gave and received hugs with relatives and opened your heart to the possibilities in life. Don't give up on the joy behind Christmas just because the wallet has more room than usual. Teach the young to make things, to visit neighbors and family; encourage traditional love. The best thing about Christmas is the feeling of being loved by someone else.

So is Christmas in the wrapping paper, the bows, the gifts? Or is Christmas in the arms that hold those gifts? My favorite memories were the ones when we as a family tried over and over again to get the Christmas picture right; often with lots of wonderful mistakes! I hold on to those memories like gold. To me that is what makes Christmas.

Picture Perfect

Do you remember Paul Simon? He wrote a song quite a while back, and called it 'Kodacrome'. Kodacrome is a color chemical process for developing film that Kodak retired in June of 2009. He made big bucks off that song; who would've figured. He's written lots of songs that never seem to go out of style. But this one always catches my attention.


All the song talked about were the memories that he kept sharp by being able to see pictures of his friends. It makes a great point. In our fast paced society, we see everything go by so quickly, that pictures are really the only way to capture a moment.

We all know grandparents who keep a running total of pictures around of their beautiful grand-babies. I myself recently encountered a happy parent carrying Easter pictures of her one year old. It used to be a big thing to have a picture of someone to show off, but now it is pretty much common place. So much so, that we often brush off the thought of sitting down to look at slides of vacations, picture albums, and family videos that aren't of one's immediate family. But people still spend great amounts of money to have pictures made, and to buy video equipment to use and show off. However, not everyone wants to rush over and see the seven hour video made of someone else's trip to the beach in the middle of July.

You know, the video with the bad hotel, the friend riding a donkey down the walls of the Grand Canyon, and the bad sunburn. The one no one wants to see, because it reminds them of all the bad vacations they ever took.

As a society I think we really have come up with some inventive ways to hold a moment, and the methods keep changing rapidly. It used to be bronze baby shoes, homemade picture frames and 8 millimeter film, now it's camcorders, flower frames made in China, and computer enhanced family photos.

Sometimes I feel as if the more money we spend on such things, the worse off we are. But no matter how much I feel that way, you know I wouldn't trade the results for anything in the world.

Once, a long time ago they quilted family history into blankets for future generations to remember. Now we weave on a plastic loom that holds actual images of family. I can't help but wonder what technology will come up with next.