Monday, December 07, 2009

Linkage

I always have trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit and it's been that way for over ten years now.  But I'm a lot closer to being there than I ever have been in the recent past.  Why? Because I just finished reading Cricket's "Joy To The World."  This is a FINE piece of writing excellence and you'll be much poorer for things if you don't go read.  Right now.
Especially if you're having trouble with the holidays.
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10 comments:

  1. MissBirdlegs in AL07 December, 2009 17:38

    Appreciate this link! How absolutely beautiful (and REAL) that blog is.

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  2. Cricket07 December, 2009 19:13

    Many thanks for the link, Buck. I'm happy you enjoyed the piece so much and happier still that you got something from it. I wish I could take full credit for it but, as it is said, ad majorem Dei gloriam.

    Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas,

    Cricket

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  3. Buck08 December, 2009 00:48

    Katy: I hope you took some time to check out Cricket's archives. The guy is GOOD.

    Cricket: Thank YOU, Sir!

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  4. Andy08 December, 2009 05:58

    Buck, thanks for sending me over there. Good stuff.

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  5. Suldog08 December, 2009 06:13

    Good on you for directing folks over to his place, Buck. He's such a fine writer, and that particular piece did a lot for my heart.

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  6. Daphne08 December, 2009 21:03

    That woman can write, Buck. Nice find.

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  7. Buck09 December, 2009 10:16

    That GUY can write, Daph. ;-)

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  8. Marsosudiro09 December, 2009 22:24

    That was indeed remarkable.

    I get very bah-humbug about Christmas: less because of the materialism of modern Christmas (though that all sucks) but more because of the unceasing noise that accompanies the holiday: all the ads, all the decor, all the annoying songs, and all the constantly expressed expectation that we're supposed to live this season (and I do mean -season-, as it seems to last three months now) in a particular way.

    (BTW: I also avoid watching NCAA basketball as long as possible each year, so I won't be burned out by the time March Madness shows up.)

    One nice antidote to all this is "Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas" by Bill McKibben.

    Hundred Dollar Holiday is a very small book, which reflects the magic of its messages which are simple, simplifying, and profound. Some of its themes (spend less money, spend more time) have been shared many times in other places. But McKibben also spends some time on the relatively unknown history of the Christmas holiday: its rowdy origins in class pacification ("[in this] one moment of the year], the various lords were expected to offer the fruits of the harvest to the peasants, and the peasants were more than willing to show up and demand them... a sort of wild trick-or-treat."), its New York transformation in the early 19th century, and it evolution into what we seem to have now.

    One of the things I love about McKibben's book is that he offers us a way to understand the evolving sense of Christmas, so that we can create a new Christmas that makes sense.

    "The Christmas we now celebrate grew up at a time when Americans were mostly poor, mostly lived with extended families, mostly worked with their hands and backs. It's no wonder that piles of presents felt different, that rowdy noise sounded different. The Christmas that was invented in the 1840s was fairly flexible: people could change the size of their presents as the nation grew richer, for instance. But more and more that old Christmas finally feels played out. We've changed too much, and if we feel harassed by Christmas, that's why. It's not that Christmas has changed, it's that we have. We're like fifty-year-olds going to Daytona Beach for spring break. Maybe we can remember why it seemed fun once, but frankly we'd rather sleep at night.

    But though we may not need the same things from Christmas, we still have needs. More needs than ever, in some ways. And figuring out those needs will help us to figure out new ways of celebrating."

    Joyeux Noel

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  9. Buck10 December, 2009 09:31

    Thanks for that, Phil. And yet another book I have to add to my ever-lengthening list...

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  10. Marsosudiro10 December, 2009 11:36

    But it's a very SMALL book! If you read my whole comment, you're nearly 1% of the way through!

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.

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