It's Almost That Time Again

Christmas! Or maybe Chanukah or Kwanzaa ("Wtf is Kwanzaa anyway??"), depending on what you celebrate, or if you even celebrate at all. Regardless, for all of my American readers, Thanksgiving is one week from today, which means we are now only one week away from when it is socially acceptable to start pulling out your Christmas decorations and singing your joyful Christmas carols.

I love Christmas. The closer we get to Christmas, the more excited I get. Because I absolutely love seeing the big smiles on everyone's faces, especially the kids when they open up their presents to see awesome toys. And I love seeing how the world starts to transform as Christmas approaches. There's something in the air that's completely indescribable, but everyone's feeling it. There's excitement and joy in everything as we race straight into the "happiest time of the year".

Christmas is stressful, and hectic, and all sorts of things go wrong all the time. Not everyone likes Christmas even. There's plenty to be negative about. People are starving, dying. There are kids waking up to nothing on Christmas. But people change around the holidays. Even the grumpiest of people are touched by the spirit of giving that overwhelms people during this magical season. That's what's in the air: the spirit of giving.

I give music. I'm excited about it too. Last Christmas, I played a little bit of piano for our Christmas celebrations, but this year, I also know guitar. And I have a month to learn still. It was fun when I was a kid and I could lead everyone in singing, sometimes trying the day before Christmas to learn how to play piano just for the occasion, and even if I wasn't very good, everyone was happy, but now it's even better. Now I know I can make music (especially simple Christmas carols which have like 3 chords only sometimes), and I can learn to play things much better, so it's not just a cute kid who's happy, but it's a cute kid who's happy and not too shabby either.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving, so I can start wearing my Christmas spirit everywhere I go.