This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $5 gift card and an e book of reader choice of any of my back list books..
What does Christmas– the Season of Goodwill – Mean to Me?
Two homeless older men rewarding manager man for gift of food
In the words of Natalie Imbruglia, I’m a little torn. There’s good and bad aspects. I’m going to tackle them both. I love the vibe and hype of the season, shopping for presents for people andt seeing all those sparkly lights. I’m not religious so Christmas for me has never been about Jesus or anything remotely biblical.
Christmas for me is the shiny season. It’s the vibrancy of coloured lights and tinsel. It’s the silky sheen of wrapping paper and the twinkle of baubles on the tree, the smell of spruce, and orange chocolate, and mulled wine. It’s a sensual time when everything meshes together into a festive package of scents and sights that stirs the senses and brings families and friends together. It’s a time for kindness, when soup kitchens are manned by volunteers willing to give up their time to contribute to making someone’s else life a little bit happier for a while. It’s also the time you can get your own back on grumpy Aunt Mabel, who insists on giving you socks each year. The dildo you bought for her will go down a treat. She may even find a unique use for it, ‘stirring’ the Yorkshire pudding mix perhaps. *sniggers*
It’s also the time of a high suicide rate, a plethora of homeless people on the streets, watching with jaundiced eyes as those more fortunate than them strolled past in laughter and merry cheer, while carting presents that would probably have bought a week’s shelter and food for one of these street people. This season is a time of extremes-—one parent buying their kid a Ferrari or a football team, another just managing to scrape together enough money to buy their child a football or a toy truck; of one-upping the Joneses, of making sure things are bigger and better than the other person’s offerings.
So, like a piece of tinfoil, there’s a dull and shiny side to the season. It’s a pity we can’t find it within ourselves to bring the season of goodwill to all men to people the whole year around instead of just a few short-lived days. That as a species we can’t simply adopt an attitude of love and acceptance to all mankind as we work together to keep this world of ours from spiralling into decay.
In the true spirit of giving, why not buy a homeless person a cup of coffee. Drag out those old blankets you have in the cupboard, give them a wash and let the people suffering the cold have them. Donate to a deserving charity, like one that teaches people about respecting diversity. Show a starving pet some kindness. You don’t have to give much – just a little.
https://give.thetrevorproject.org/checkout/donation?eid=63307
Being in love is tough enough at eighteen, but being in love and outed to your dad is a disaster that will take more than a little holiday magic to fix.
Bringing lovers together, one book at a time
Susan writes steamy, sexy and fun contemporary romance stories, some suspenseful, some gritty and dark and hopefully always entertaining.
She loves going to the theatre, live music concerts (especially if it’s her man crush Adam Lambert ) the divine Cumberbatch, walks in the countryside, a good G and T, lazing away afternoons reading a good book, and watching horror films.
She’s also Editor in Chief at Divine Magazine, an online LGBTQ e-zine, and a member of The Society of Authors, the Writers Guild of Great Britain, and the Authors Guild in the US. Susan is also an award-winning script writer, with scripts based on two of her own published works. Sight Unseen has garnered no less than ten awards to date.
Buy the book at Amazon.
I try to donate what I can every Christmas. I belong to an organization of female of educators and donate through them as well as the local food bank. thanks for the great post
nice to help out
I get a lot of unwanted mail this time of year – they send me ‘gifts’ so I will feel like I have to send them money. This year I posted on my community FB page and ended up giving a very heavy box to a lady who said she’d really like the socks I mentioned. Oh, she got the socks, but I added mittens, and Christmas cards, wrapping paper, calendars, note pads, pens, reusable shopping bags, dream catchers and other items too. When she drove up, yeah, I was very glad I gave her more than just the few socks we talked about. I admit, some of the stuff was gorgeous, but I can only use so much, you know? I was happy to share. Instead of throwing the stuff out, from now on, I’m donating. Your post is a good reminder that we should give more often. Thanks!
Christmas can be a frenzied and stressful time of year. I try to enjoy the lights and the beauty and not get caught up in all the commercialization. We should all try to give our time or money to those in need.
I love the blog post and I can definitely empathize about being torn with the feelings about Christmas. I feel similarly. I love the reminder about the importance of giving.
I try to give not only money but my time to help at a kitchen soup or other charities,