Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. (It's kind of funny how the phrase "merry christmas" survives as one of the only modern usages of the word "merry." I prefer saying things like "Happy Christmas.") My wife and I went out to the Waffle House for lunch and then we went to see a movie. I also got some recreational reading done, and continued to work on a knitting project that my wife is helping me with... A mockingbird with feathers puffed out against the cold just landed on a branch outside my window... Anyway, I look forward to getting more reading done this week, and finally finishing the knitting project (a hat).

It is strange the way the Christmas season is invested with such significance, how deeply it is burned into my brain and the brains of others. It's just another day, and I don't mean that as a slam against it's religious significance. Most people celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday, and that's the concept that's really burned into my brain. In fact, when I was growing up, I felt like Christmas equated with the receiving of presents in the morning. I would be incredibly excited the night before. (I don't know why, alhtough I still feel it to a far lesser degree.) Then I would rush down in the morning, we would tear open our presents in a frenzy, and then I would feel let down, almost dejected. Not because I didn't get good presents, but because no material goods could possibly fulfill the desire that had built in my heart in the days before Christmas. It's actually just an example of incorrect thinking on my part, but at that point in my life, I lacked the maturity, awareness and desire to modify my expectations and behavior to more closely match reality. Then, after presents, we had dinner with visiting family, and I found this to be incredibly boring and painful. All I wanted to do was be alone, possibly playing video games or reading. It is only recently that I've found being with other people a blessing rather than a curse.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.