I caught flack from my sister some years ago for an e-mail I sent to her and a few other friends in which I pointed out that the character of Ebeneezer Scrooge was maligned. He never set out to make other people's holidays miserable. instead it seemed like the stress of the season was taking a toll on him when he'd rather just be left alone and left out of it. Poor Scrooge had the misfortune of being a businessman, although a tough boss to work for who dared to be concerned with making a profit in a story by Charles Dickens, a bleeding heart liberal. (Being a liberal myself, I can use that phrase - it's a left-wing thing.)
I bring this up because I'm having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season this time around. Maybe it's because of the changes we've been forced through over the past year, or maybe because of my own poor planning and not having accomplished much of what I'd hoped to have had done by now. Whatever the reason, I find myself wanting to just let others make merry around me while I mind my own business.
It seldom works out that way, though. People see me not joining their celebrations wholeheartedly and accuse me of being a Grinch or a Scrooge. I'm doing nothing to spoil the fun of others but that's not enough for these folks, they insist that if I'm not swept up in the holiday excitement then I'm somehow raining on their festivities while I feel like I'm doing them a favor by steering clear of them.
With just over a week left before Christmas is here I'm still hoping to find enough spirit to actually enjoy the holiday rather than just endure it. Part of me does still like Christmas and I'd be disappointed to have to wait another year before I had the chance to get some measure of happiness from it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment