HO HO HO
I find myself wondering exactly WHY so many people are depressed this time of year.
That is not to question their sanity or judgment- I agree with them. Something about it is thoroughly miserable. My wonder is exactly WHY that is, because, quite frankly, even with the happiest, most stable family, it's depressing.
Perhaps it's that the end of a year is always depressing, for the same reason as birthdays. Another year has run its course. Another arbitrarily organized chunk of time passed to look back and wonder what exactly it was you raced around doing all that time that was of such utmost importance while you were doing it. The result is often a feeling of complete futility, like watching an ant with three legs scurry around in a circle trying to get itself back home.
Another theory is the forced cheer. As anyone not nailing cheerleaders in high school who was forced to attend a pep rally knows, "organized" fun is the worst kind of fun. And the Christmas season nowadays is not wholly unlike one giant forced corporate office holiday mixer for a staple manufacturing company. All is thrust upon you whether you choose to take part or not, and it is thoroughly, bleached-bland corporate. Our cheer is entirely manufactured. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was invented by a marketing person at Sears in the 1950's. Frosty the Snowman gets props solely because of Bing Crosby. When you really think about that, it's kind of like hanging up decorations sporting the Michelein Man or Frankenberry every year to "celebrate" spending time with your family or Jesus or something.
And even with as dismal as that assessment is, the imaginationally-challenged machinations of today can't even come up with any new Christmas characters to market to impressionable children. It's about time Kanye West or Fergie or somebody steps up to the plate to write a bouncy holiday jingle about Gertrude the Christmas Dolphin or Rummy the Holiday Hobo.
And then there's the lowly Jews- celebrating Hannukah peacefully every year with nary a Marty the Matzo or Dennis the Dreidel light up lawn ornament in sight. And perhaps to prove my point here without elaborating further, Blogger's built in spell-check underlined both "Hannukah" and "Dreidel" as unrecognized words. Happy Hannukah, Jewish folks! What, you mean Hannukah existed prior to Christmas, and that Jesus himself was ironically BORN into a JEWISH family ON Christmas?!? Whulp, spell check isn't underlining Christmas, so I guess it wins.
But don't let it all get you down... Before you know it, the beautiful months of January and February will be here, and the dead of winter in the Midwest is truly something to cherish.
I find myself wondering exactly WHY so many people are depressed this time of year.
That is not to question their sanity or judgment- I agree with them. Something about it is thoroughly miserable. My wonder is exactly WHY that is, because, quite frankly, even with the happiest, most stable family, it's depressing.
Perhaps it's that the end of a year is always depressing, for the same reason as birthdays. Another year has run its course. Another arbitrarily organized chunk of time passed to look back and wonder what exactly it was you raced around doing all that time that was of such utmost importance while you were doing it. The result is often a feeling of complete futility, like watching an ant with three legs scurry around in a circle trying to get itself back home.
Another theory is the forced cheer. As anyone not nailing cheerleaders in high school who was forced to attend a pep rally knows, "organized" fun is the worst kind of fun. And the Christmas season nowadays is not wholly unlike one giant forced corporate office holiday mixer for a staple manufacturing company. All is thrust upon you whether you choose to take part or not, and it is thoroughly, bleached-bland corporate. Our cheer is entirely manufactured. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was invented by a marketing person at Sears in the 1950's. Frosty the Snowman gets props solely because of Bing Crosby. When you really think about that, it's kind of like hanging up decorations sporting the Michelein Man or Frankenberry every year to "celebrate" spending time with your family or Jesus or something.
And even with as dismal as that assessment is, the imaginationally-challenged machinations of today can't even come up with any new Christmas characters to market to impressionable children. It's about time Kanye West or Fergie or somebody steps up to the plate to write a bouncy holiday jingle about Gertrude the Christmas Dolphin or Rummy the Holiday Hobo.
And then there's the lowly Jews- celebrating Hannukah peacefully every year with nary a Marty the Matzo or Dennis the Dreidel light up lawn ornament in sight. And perhaps to prove my point here without elaborating further, Blogger's built in spell-check underlined both "Hannukah" and "Dreidel" as unrecognized words. Happy Hannukah, Jewish folks! What, you mean Hannukah existed prior to Christmas, and that Jesus himself was ironically BORN into a JEWISH family ON Christmas?!? Whulp, spell check isn't underlining Christmas, so I guess it wins.
But don't let it all get you down... Before you know it, the beautiful months of January and February will be here, and the dead of winter in the Midwest is truly something to cherish.
posted by Pete Klockau at 8:05 PM
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