Holiday Reflections for us 'Grownups'

Only seven more sleeps until you know when!

Actually I'm faking it.

As much as I like the lights,the snow, of course the food and the holiday music, I haven't really been enthused about Christmas for a few years - certainly not like when I was a kid - and that fact/realization got me thinking... what exactly is it that morphs one's childhood excited anticipation for the big day into one of resigned dread?

Is it simply the fact that we know there's no Santa Claus (oh-oh... should I have put a spoiler heading on this?); that we're overwhelmed with adult responsibilities and obligations including seasonal bills, or is it something more?

I have often wondered about this late-breaking change in perspection. Maybe it is simply that as children our take on the magic of Christmas is primarily a selfish albeit innocent one - what is Santa going to bring me? How many gifts will I get? Will that Lite Brite be in there? Conversely as adults, we think of (or should think of) the real meaning and magic of Christmas and New Years Eve, reach out to others, be thankful for what we have, and use the season as an excuse to mend fences and start again.

I mentioned earlier that I enjoy the holiday music - and I do - right from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells to such beloved classics as White Christmas and The Christmas Song. But I find as I've gotten older, I am especially touched by those Christmas songs that remind us of something beyond the frost and mistletoe and gift-giving. Tunes like So This Is Christmas by John Lennon has been a longtime favorite of mine for this very reason. More recently, I have fallen in love with a tune that has been done by several different artists including Amy Grant. It's called simply My Grownup Christmas List. Like John Lennon's song of the season, I adore what this song says and how it delicately works to remind us of what's really important. Below are the lyrics. If you get a chance, find it and give it a listen.



Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee;
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies.

Well, I'm all grown-up now,
And still need help somehow.
I'm not a child,
But my heart still can dream.

So here's my lifelong wish,
My grown-up Christmas list.
Not for myself,
But for a world in need.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown-up Christmas list.

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree.

Well Heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end.
This is my grown-up Christmas list.

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend,
And right would always win,
And love would never end, oh.
This is my grown-up Christmas list.
This is my grown-up Christmas list.


MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody and all the best in 2008!