For some reason this year I couldn’t seem to find the Christmas spirit.
I don’t know where it went, but somewhere amidst all the late nights into early mornings at the bar and just trying to keep on keeping on, the Christmas spirit just … got away from me.
My roommate is obsessed with Christmas, so the second the calendar hit December 1st our house was transformed into a winter wonderland. White lights, pine garlands, and a beautiful tree didn’t seem to help; neither did Elf being shown on a loop on TV. I was too busy; and while the Christmas spirit always seemed to be nipping at my heels, I was in too much of a rush and eventually I think it just quit trying to catch up with me.
I felt it briefly the other day in Harvard Square, walking down Brattle Street as twilight settled in. I felt it a little bit the other night in Faneuil Hall right outside Ned Divine’s watching the giant lit tree pumping out Christmas songs and the lights blinking and illuminating the cobblestone streets. We ducked into the bar and with the tree out of sight, I escaped it once more, settling into the comfort of shots of whiskey sliding down my throat and making me forget about whatever it is I probably should have been doing instead.
Waking up alone in my apartment today I started to pack for the next two days I will spend at home in Rhode Island. Not even donning my little red riding hood wool cloak seemed to help; I still didn’t feel very Christmassy.
I headed out to the train station, stopping in Harvard Square for a coffee at Starbucks first, and while in line I got tired of waiting for the Christmas spirit to show up.
I decided to buy a few hot coffees for the homeless people outside and create my own. I handed out the coffees along with $5 cash to everyone sitting on the ground outside the coffee shop. I was beginning to think that maybe the Christmas spirit wasn’t missing after all, maybe I had just been too busy to create my own.
(even my cat has more Christmas spirit than me)
I made a mental note that with one day left before the holiday, there was still plenty of time to do something nice for others and at the same time slow my own hectic life enough for me to remember what’s really important as we head into 2013.
At South Station I bought a handful of Dunkin Donuts gift cards to hand out to whomever I stumble across on my trek home to the Ocean State. I sat on the train home with half the money in my wallet already gone; I guess I’ll have to have one less whiskey shot in my eggnog to forget and instead start choosing to remember what’s important this holiday season.
