Thinking Christmas

The Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel has already started their “Merry Movie Week,” and the “mothership” Hallmark Channel will be rolling out a whole month of “Christmas in July” starting at the end of this week. When we aren’t streaming or watching sports, one of the Hallmarks is usually on our television this time of year.

You’ll see Christmas pop up here more frequently as it gets closer, but I wanted to offer three disclaimers about my outlook on the holiday itself before I/we get there. To me…

  1. Hallmark Christmas movies reflect about 15% of what real life is all about. (The % may be a bit higher for their non-Christmas fare, but not by much…)
  2. Christmas can be a truly miserable time for many people, in some cases the lowest they’ve ever felt. Others don’t acknowledge or care about it. People who go all out for Christmas should keep that in mind.
  3. I myself l-o-v-e Christmas, even though I’ve only had one or two extra-memorable ones myself.

For that matter, any holiday or “celebrated” day on our calendars can be a time of soul-crushing sadness for others. Deaths, illness, separations. They don’t follow any calendar. Much like hearing a piece of music can transport us back to a certain place in time, the calendar may do the same.

The arrival of July signifies Christmas is less than a ½ year away. Then again, several networks (including Hallmark) fire up their Yuletide offerings Halloween week (!)…which no doubt makes those who don’t enjoy the Christmas season feel worse. I myself love Halloween…and Thanksgiving…and like to give those holidays total attention before then focusing in on Christmas.

Each July, when these films come on with their over-the-top messages of Christmas, I do find myself being a little nicer to folks, a little more considerate, a little more forgiving. The movies act for me as a mid-year reminder…a reset…to aspire to be the best human possible…even within the never-gonna-be-perfect-life we all reside within.

In the real world, I think all of us should never take a holiday from trying to understand what others are going through, where they are coming from, and how we can make both their day and ours a good one.

 

Picture Courtesy iStock

10 thoughts on “Thinking Christmas”

  1. While I respect your right to Christmas in July, I can not in good faith support it. Santa should stay in the North Pole and not show his chubby self until December!
    😉

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  2. The line: “about 15% of what real life is all about” is intriguing, because lefty organizations are spending a great deal of time, money, and arsonist acts to redefine what life is about, so having a family movie about two guys falling in love and developing a physical relationship IS normal life to them, and Hallmark WILL climb on board with this thinking and their made-for-TV-movies will no longer be safe for G/PG viewing.

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  3. My Christmas spirit usually begins in early November when our local radio station switches to Christmas music, but I may try those Hallmark movies next month after your wonderful final two paragraphs.🙂

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  5. So what you’re saying is that Christmas is really a state of mind? I kind of like all of the fuss and to do in December. I usually start planning in June/July. With that said, last Christmas…well it was the worst and the best. I kind of wrote about it on my blog last January. Then I took a very long break. Again, it all comes down to what Christmas means to you and what and why you’re celebrating…and I think you can celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior (mine, anyway) any time of the year that you want. There’s a great story (was it on Classic Radio that I heard it? Maybe I read it somewhere. It was about a man who’s wife was dying and she wanted to spend one more Christmas with him, so he put the tree up and the lights and did the whole she-bang…in August or September…don’t remember exactly when…but it wasn’t December. And they celebrated. That’s love. That’s Christmas. “Oh, Holy Night…the stars are brightly shining…” So glad you wrote this. I’m now in a Christmas frame of mind, my friend! Thanks, I needed that and didn’t even know it. Mona

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