The Everyone's Christmas

Christmas encompasses so many different feelings and cultures binding them together into a neat little box. From Krampus in Germany and Austria to the jolly red man himself traveling the world these traditions are localized and widespread. What makes this holiday so special is this individuality and connection. Each celebration of Christmas tailors itself to individual's values, yet an overarching idea of love and kindness envelops all festivities. My favorite part of Christmas is giving my two brothers their gifts. I like to create complex puzzles and add surprises to every opening: be it a baking soda volcano explosion to get the One Ring or unsealing a pack of Magic cards, inserting a valuable one, and resealing the pack for him to open. These brief or sometimes half an hour opening processes are the happiest times of my life. I feel so connected and excited with the two most important people in my life. And yet, this is just my Christmas. Christmas includes my love, but it also consists of the spouses who spend their Christmas morning drinking hot chocolate, or the family who goes to their Christmas Eve church service.

Christmas is magical. As a child Santa and his reindeer, the elves and Mrs. Claus, all bring magic to Christmas, but this magic is not age based. What makes Christmas so magical is what it does to humanity. It is a day where people join together and just give. In World War One, the Christmas Truce stopped the bloodiest war to date for the holidays. From one human to the next, weapons were put down, and songs and hugs exchanged. Parent's strive so hard to give their children a magical Christmas, and they succeed. They succeed because Santa does not disappear with age, but instead becomes a part of everyone, no matter who they are.

Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth and has clear cultural influences from Norse and Druid religions. This multiculturalism is a part of Christmas. I so want to have everyone be a part of Christmas, but I need to stop myself because each culture has their own special embodiment of love. Christmas is a day of pure love to me and many others, but it should not exclude any other day from being this. That is what is important about Christmas: love and acceptance. It is a day I love and a feeling I hope every person gets to experience in their own unique and connected way.