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Merry Christmas and Goodbye 2015!

Posted on by Christian Reeve

This will be my final blogpost of 2015, I’m really getting into the idea of blogging and have realised it’s actually quite a lot of fun!. As I’ve started very late in the year, 2016 will see this blog really taking shape hopefully. I will aim to make it as interesting, informative and fun to read as I can, although this is largely subjective (being dependent on what interests you – the reader).

Ok so Christmas….
I like the idea of Christmas. I love the songs that are played every year, it’s like history kept in a bubble that’s preserved and rediscovered every year. The decorations everywhere are very glamourous and in some cases, spectacular. I absolutely love the food and the present giving
is a nice aspect. It’s quite endearing when you receive a gift from someone that you love, as it’s an indication that they know you well, they know what you like and they pay attention.

They’ve taken time to select the right gift for you, and they’ve put some real thought into it.One thing that’s pretty weird for me is how I absolutely loved receiving gifts as a child, whereas now I prefer giving gifts. The best thing about Christmas is spending time with family, this is something I don’t get enough time to do normally throughout the year,
so this time is special and I look forward to it every year.

So all of that’s nice, but what’s my problem with Christmas?
Well, it’s just not all that special when you’re an adult.
I won’t burst any bubbles (encase children happen to come across this blog post) but when the erm, shall we say, BIG REALISATION happens, it loses it’s magic. I found out quite harshly when I was 7 or 8 years old. An older girl at school was teasing me for not knowing. I was really confused and understandably upset at the time. I asked my parents later that evening and sure enough, the girl was right.

After that, Christmas was never really the same. It lost it’s spark. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m a marketing student or perhaps that I’m just older and wiser to life in general, but Christmas for me is just the commercialist holiday. That one time of the year where all retailers rejoice because we’re going to spend INSANE amounts of money purchasing gifts. There’s this weird, twisted sense of irony that lots of advertisements on TV are calling people to give to homeless charities. And when you see the masses of people in shopping centres and districts scurrying around, scrambling around to get the ‘right’ gifts, these people on the streets are all but forgotten.

I guess I’m suggesting we should spend a little less time and money on christmas and little more time helping and giving to those who really need it. Yeah ok shoot me, I guess I’m that annoying person trying to make everyone feel bad. I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy Christmas or anything like that. I’m just saying that yeah, for me it’s not that special. It’s definitely not the religious festival that it was. Sure, people do still celebrate it for those reasons, but ultimately all that most people seem to care about is the present giving. I really don’t care about that anymore.

Things change, people change. But it’s funny, Christmas never changed, my attitude towards it changed. I guess we should just appreciate this time for the right reasons and not the superficial, material reasons.

2015 was an important year for me as it marked the end of my first year at university and the beginning of my second year. The transition was pretty rough and we had a lot of work to produce within a very short space of time. I learnt quite a bit about teamwork and how to work with different groups of people. It’s funny to think that something you do
all the time could need to be improved, but yes, I learnt some very hard lessons about patience and understanding.

More importantly, 2015 was the year that I published my first poetry books, and for that matter, the first time I ever published anything! You can find them via these links below (yeah I know, shameless
self promotion, but hey, I haven’t got a marketing department yet, but when I do….aha)

2015 brought many lessons for me about myself, about how to treat others, and generally about life. In my opinion, we as humans are always learning and growing. Anyone that tells you that they know it all
and do not need to learn anything else is lying, or just ignorant.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a 5 year old child or a 87 year old, you always have lessons to learn and things to realise about life.

I’ve learnt that it’s very important to focus on one’s self and own ambitions, lessons and life. You cannot go through life comparing yourself to others, it doesn’t matter if other people do, that’s their mistake. You simply have to focus on you and nothing else. That’s not to say that you should completely disregard others around you, or the people that you love. All it means is that when it comes to making decisions about life, making choices or even just how you life your days, make sure you’re doing exactly what you want to do, and not what others tell you or pressure you into doing. I believe that it’s very important for our souls to do this. If you don’t, you’re restricting yourself, imprisoning yourself. You won’t just feel sadness, disappointment, anger or regret emotionally, you’ll feel them physically too. So it’s crucial that you make sure you’re as happy as you can possibly be.

Oh and laugh as much as possible, don’t take life so seriously. Because really, is all of this petty stuff like money, social status,looks etc going to matter when you’re dead? No, all that will matter is how you lived your life, what you experienced, who you hurt, who you loved, who you saved and most importantly, what you gave. Life isn’t about taking, it’s about giving.

But hey, I’m a 22 year old man, I don’t know everything and I have a long journey ahead of me. These are just my thoughts and realisations. A reflection of what I’ve learnt this year and what I’ve gained.
I find that it’s really good to record these things, to write them down and reflect. I feel as though we rush around too much in life and never really stop to take time to appreciate the good things, the amazing things.
It’s like Matthew Broderick once said ”Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”.

So Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year
See you in 2016!

– Christian Reeve

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