No, not me! Not Scrooge. Please…
Scrooge alert! Scrooge alert!
Oh no! I’m apparently the one who’s morphed into Scrooge!
How could this happen?
For starters, I’m human and fallible. (Always, a wonderful excuse, but still an authentic one.) At the moment, however, human that I am, I feel a distinct kinship with the White Rabbit from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. You recall the White Rabbit, peering at his pocket watch with great anxiety? “I'm late, I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say 'hello, goodbye,' I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!”
Sigh. That would be me. OMG, Hanukkah and Christmas are COMING and time is slipping away. I’m a product of my culture. (Hey, you are, too.) I’m not keeping pace with the seasonal and societal expectations of finding appropriate presents. I’m failing and flailing….
Oh, no, am I really going to say this? Apparently, I am….
Yes, I am. Here’s my honest admission. Like the stop watch-ridden White Rabbit, I find it difficult to catch my breath during the Holiday Season of Hanukkah and Christmas. “I'm late, I'm late!” These upcoming festivities are nipping at my heels (big time). Gotta run faster! Will the Amazon packages arrive on time? OMG, look at the calendar! All of this, ALL OF THIS, mind you, in conjunction with my own, breathless, intentions of fulfilling the Holiday Season’s tradition for the giving of presents! (I need a nap.)
Oh, my, tradition can be so soothing and comforting….except when it’s not. Birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, usually have an expectation of giving just ONE present. The Seasonal Holidays tend to be a race, yes, a race, against the White Rabbit’s stop watch and “I’m late, I’m late for very important dates!” Hanukkah and Christmas.
And during this supposedly joyous time, I feel guilty. There, I said it! Guilty. About my craziness accruing from the anxiety of giving presents. (I sometimes feel like I’m drowning. I can’t be the only one, can I?)
Ah, but my iPad spellcheck just gave me a huge present - huge - a newly opened door to a different tradition. (And to think of all the times I’ve vilified spellcheck!) While typing in “presents,” spellcheck clearly decided I really meant ‘presence.’ And spellcheck, for a change, was right on the money.
My difficulty with seasonal tradition is the very short time frame (and all the expectations) of giving multiple presents. But isn’t the act of offering “presence” to others a year-round activity? A lifetime activity? Not confined to the Season? You bet!
Thanks to my, for-once, prescient spellcheck I’m reminded that I can give presence, not bound by a particular time period. Giving this type of presence is not quantifiable in the usual sense, as seasonal presents are. This offering of presence is still an incredible gift of acknowledgement, of caring, of “you count,” to another human being. (And, as far as I know, the cost is negligible.) I’m attending to the ‘other,’ letting them know they are worthy of attention, even if only for a passing moment.
I’m starting to breathe again. Whew! I’ll probably not be able to shake off all the societal expectations regarding seasonal holidays and the giving of presents. But, darn it, I want to reframe and acknowledge, for myself, that I’m a prolific giver of a different type of presence, year round. This different type of presence is still a heck of a present, whenever and wherever.