Welcome Christmas!

I wrote this post back in 2013 to accompany my Christmas playlist that year and never ended up posting it. I'm not sure why, except that I might have worried it was on the dark side of my normal fare.  But the words are still true. I wish you peace and hope. Enjoy this playlist here.

In recent years, I've begun to listen to Christmas music with an ear toward irony. In the midst of sleigh bells and jolliness, Christmas music often seems like a mask, a state of denial, a stretch to find small morsels of joy. I listen to "Deck the Halls" and think of someone sticking fingers in their ears, drowning out reality and singing "fa la la la la..."

At the risk of being a downer, I can't help but think of how hard this time of year can be. Sometimes we have the wherewithal to reflect, but often we work hard to deflect uncomfortable feelings of change and pain that seem to heighten during the holidays. Perhaps it's because the absence of loved ones feels especially obvious when carrying on old traditions. Perhaps it's because we put a lot of stock into making the holidays special for young ones who are in their most impressionable years, knowing that these are the memories they will pine for in adulthood and we don't want to screw it up. Perhaps it's because we spend more money than necessary on gifts that may or may not be appreciated, decorations to make us merry, and big dinners to make us full, and then January comes and we're broke, a few pounds heavier, and baby, it's cold outside, but the weather is not nearly as romantic as it is frightful. Occasionally we stop to consider those who are eating their Christmas meal in a soup kitchen, or alone in a nursing home, or those who have no idea it's Christmas at all. It may make us remember all we take for granted, but to sing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," seems a little over-stated.

Christmas music - some of it, anyway - can be trite and grating when you stop to consider reality. And yet, it's the first thing that I look forward to after Thanksgiving. Why? I don't really know, except that perhaps it represents hope. The first and final track of this year's mix captures this feeling most fittingly - Christmas is here, right when we need it. We may all be making a desperate plea to the world to bring us Christmas joy, whether we're feeling sadder, older and colder, so let's all be festive and love each other. I hope you've had a great year and are spending the holiday with renewed vigor. Notice that the title of this year's Christmas mix is not "Welcome, Christmas" as though you were greeting an old friend. It's a command. Join me in my attempt to welcome everything that Christmas promises in the best ways. This is the time to welcome the season and to look forward with hope.