Christmas is a mental state, a seasonal human characteristic that sets in when we have had the first frost and when we only see the sun at weekends. You see, when we get out our winter wardrobes, somewhere inside us, a switch is flicked. We bake for neighbours, we sing carols for charity, we spend all our money on friends and family, we put trees inside our homes and we willingly act the fool. Then simultaneously, like a mass migration, everybody goes home.
But Christmas isn’t just any old day, it is a whole season. It’s a time of year allocated for that emotion that is mocked throughout the rest of the year: sentimentality, and to paraphrase Spiderman, with great sentimentality comes great opportunity. Everyone wants to feel cosy and safe at home, watching TV with the people who matter, but not everybody can.
Some people here in the UK are living in poverty. Some can’t afford heating, some can’t afford rent and many can’t even afford food, let alone presents. There are elderly people living alone or in retirement homes with no one to visit them. There are families having Christmas in hospital, or worrying about loved ones serving overseas, or keeping an eye on next door’s dog who seems to be thinner every time they see it. Some families are held together by fearful apologies and promises that “it’ll never happen again” and some people don’t have families at all.
Though your world might come to a joyous, festive and love-filled halt at Christmastime, not everyone’s does. So this Christmas time try to expand your world a little bit and visit Do-it or Time Bank to find ways that you can personally help the Christmas Spirit reach a few more hearts this year.
There is so much good you can do in the world, isn’t Christmas the perfect time to do it?
Edited by Caroline Chan
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