Spirit of Christmas

There is a lot of talk this time of year about spirit. You are either "in" the spirit or not, or you hope to be at some point. In this case it isn't about the spirits that go bump in the night or the ones you consume from a glass or the results thereof. No, this is pervasive, slightly contagious and hangs heavy in the air this time of year. Is it a virus carried from the North Pole by the chilling winds of winter? No, or some drug manufacturer would be marketing a treatment of the symptoms of good will, low fiscal restraint, sudden over eating and the onset of joviality from mid November till January 1st. Could it be the unbridled, unfettered, over decorated, over lighted, commercial plazas, streetscapes and interiors that ever increasingly creep into our neighborhoods and homes? Maybe all that overexposure from lights, smells and sounds of the season has an effect on an uncharted, primal part of our brains.

I'm sure whatever the "spirit" is or isn't, will turn out to be innocuous, except in sever cases of over indulging in food, drink or fiscal looseness. I doubt that it has anything at all to do with the extra time spent with family you may rarely see or the extra time you make to spend with dear friends. Even less likely does doing the little extra niceties for others that some how fall by the wayside during the rest of the year that suddenly seems paramount have any bearing on the "spirit" of the season. Nor the fact that we take more care in choosing our words, our actions or our gifts so they convey more closely how much we care or appreciate those people in our lives. I can't even begin to imagine the cause for such an outbreak of "spirit". I suppose it will be one of those mysteries in life that will always defy explanation or understanding or even rational thought. It happens and we cope and are somehow better for it.